Only Human
by Melody Blanchard
Summary: Rose never imagined that she would meet the striking God of Thunder in the New Mexico desert, let alone become good friends with the banished man. When Rose realizes that Jane and Thor both feel something for each other, she's determined to make sure that they end up together. Set during the events of Thor. Future Loki/OC Thor/Jane *Ch.10 finally posted!*
1. Taco Bell and Crazy-ass Experiments

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I only own Rose Selvig and any other characters I make up in my head._

**Chapter One: Taco Bell and Crazy-ass Experiments **

* * *

"Guys – I'm so hungry. We should have at least stopped at a Taco Bell or something before conducting this stupid experiment." Rose complained for, at least, the thousandth time, making herself comfortable in the passenger seat of their large van. Once again, her astrophysicist and long-time best friend, Jane, rolled her big doe-brown eyes before focusing on her equipment which was beeping anonymously.

"Oh my Gosh," Darcy, Jane's much younger intern, said with a gleaming smile and hunger sparkling in her jade-colored green eyes as she lounged in the driver's seat. "A bean burrito sounds hella fantastic right now."

"We'll make a run for Taco Bell after we're finished here." Dr. Erik Selvig responded irritably as he and Jane played with their research equipment in the back of the van.

"C'mon, dad. Jane. We've been out here for hours. Can't we just call it a day and come back tomorrow?" asked Rose with weariness showing in her innocently-blue eyes. "Look, even Darcy is exhausted!" she branded a finger towards the dark-haired college girl. Darcy nodded along in agreement.

"I'm glad someone around here understands how I feel. Can't believe I'm even wasting my time here when I'm only six credits behind from graduating college." Darcy whined with a huff.

"Just a little bit longer." Jane mumbled absentmindedly while trying to focus on her research that she has been studying for months.

"So, what's this "anomaly" of yours supposed to look like?" Rose asked her best friend softly while gazing up at the beautiful darkened sky through the windshield. Shimmering stars were strewn all over the mysterious atmosphere. Rose found it to be incredibly breathtaking.

"Well – it's a little different each time." Jane said passionately while turning around to face Rose who was still sitting in the passenger seat. "Once, it looked like, I don't know, melted stars, pooling in a corner of the sky. But last week – it was a rolling rainbow ribbon."

"I've always said you should be a poet." Dr. Selvig lightly teased Jane. She only smiled shyly in return before continuing to look down at her work.

"Honestly, Jane. Give yourself some credit. Your dad would've been proud to see who you've become." Rose told her gently, encouragingly. Jane glanced at her as a hint of a sad smile graced her lips. She gently gripped Rose's hand briefly, showing gratitude towards her best friend.

"Thank you, Rose." Jane acknowledged her.

Rose cocked her head curiously. "For what?"

"The benefit of the doubt." Was Jane's simple response. Rose grinned and only happily shook her head as she settled back in the passenger seat, facing forwards and watching the entrancing sky before her.

Determined, Jane popped her head through the roof of the van, looking up towards the cryptic sky. Picking up a large gadget, she placed her magnetometer – its monitor calibrating with the constellations above. It appeared to be cobbled together from spare parts of other devices. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Selvig stood up from the roof next to Jane, both of them appearing to be anticipated for what was going to happen next. Dr. Selvig shot Jane a look of hesitance.

"Wait for it." Jane whispered, trying not to sound disappointed. An expression of hope shined on her face, waiting for something brilliant to happen.

"Can I turn on the radio?" Darcy asked annoyed from the driver's seat.

Rose let out a sigh as she told her, "Patience, Darcy."

Darcy shot her an accusing look. "Not even five minutes ago, you were just complaining!"

"I was hungry." Rose defended herself defiantly. "And I still am!"

"Guys, knock it off." They both heard Jane's desperate voice from above the roof. "And no, Darcy, you cannot turn on the radio." Darcy huffed in response.

After a few moments when nothing was happening, Dr. Selvig turned to look at Jane with uncertainty showing clearly on his aging face. "Jane – I think they're right. We should just get going. You can't keep doing this."

Jane panicked for a moment before diving back into the van and rustling through her hand-made gear and special equipment. "The last seventeen occurrences have been predictable to the second." She quickly flipped through pages of her worn-out notebook. Dr. Selvig looked at the younger woman with somewhat annoyance.

"Jane, you're an astrophysicist." He reminded her.

"Not a storm chaser." Rose added from the front.

"You be quiet, kid." Dr. Selvig pointed a warning finger at his daughter before looking at her with confusion, "And aren't you supposed to be over here aiding us in our – I mean, _Jane's_ experiment?"

"She's the scientist. I'm just her amusing comic relief sidekick." Rose defended herself.

"You never did suffice well in your Biology studies in college." Her father said with amusement laced in his matured voice.

"I'm telling you – there's a connection between these atmospheric disturbances and my research." Jane spoke, slightly panicking. "Erik, I wouldn't have asked you to fly out here if I wasn't absolutely sure."

Rose and Darcy, who were both in their own little world, noticed something awfully strange.

"Darcy, am I seeing what I think I am seeing?" Rose asked, placing a hesitant hand on the intern's shoulder, grasping it as her eyes widened in disbelief.

Instead of responding to her question, Darcy called out, "Jane? I think you want to see this." Jane, herself, narrowed her eyes in confusion before gasping softly in shock when she noticed the change in her monitors.

Dr. Selvig appeared extremely shocked, as well, as they both stumbled up through the roof, staring up at the estranged sky through the dry desert. A strange characteristic and hauntingly beautiful aura was painted upon the horizon. Everyone was truly dumbfounded.

"Holy. Shatner." Jane breathed in shock.

"I thought you said it was a "subtle" aura!" Dr. Selvig exclaimed.

"GO!" Was Jane's only hurried response. Darcy wasted no time in starting the car and speeding towards the strange event that was happening. Rose let out a startled yelp when Darcy was roughly driving the vehicle.

"Geez, kid. Could you drive with less insanity?" Rose asked while clutching her seat in fear as Darcy sped through the dry sand.

"Move over." Jane demanded Rose as they switched spots. A video-camera clutched in her shaky hand, Jane rolled down the window and grinned like a maniac as she excitedly filmed the commotion that was happening within the sky. "Isn't this great?" Jane asked with adrenaline excitement.

"No." Rose answered rather bluntly. "This is freaking crazy, insanity… Dad, I need more synonyms for the situation right now!"

"Absurdity." Dr. Selvig added for her.

Rose waved her hand to prove her point. "There you go!" Nervously, Rose gripped her father's arm as Darcy continued to drive towards the spiraling wormhole that was forming from the sky.

"You're seeing it too, right?" Jane asked with uncertainty lacing her voice. "I'm not crazy?"

"Well – I only said that this situation was crazy, but that's debatable too. Now put your seatbelt on, Janey, silly goose." Rose said as she reached over and buckled up Jane for safety.

"Get closer." Jane ordered Darcy impatiently.

"Right. Good one." Darcy responded somewhat sarcastically before realizing something. "Oh God, you're serious."

"You want those college credits or not?" Jane asked her and Darcy immediately floored it towards the strange, violent spiral.

Rose was growing extremely worried over the fact that they were getting closer to the forbidding tornado. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning strikes down through the center of the funnel cloud before them with terrifying intensity. The van rocked from the huge blast. Rose had enough of this by now. She quickly leaned over and tried to turn the wheel from Darcy to maneuver away from the tornado. Both Darcy and Jane frowned at Rose's actions.

"Screw those credits. You can intern at Burger King." Rose told Darcy as she tried to turn the wheel as Darcy fought her to gain control. Jane looked appalled towards her best friend.

"What are you doing?!" Jane cried out.

"Saving our lives!" Rose snapped.

"You know what – screw this! I am not dying for six college credits!" Darcy exclaimed, finally letting go of the wheel as Rose had full control over it.

"Rose! No! Don't!" Jane shouted as she gripped the wheel in one hand, trying to turn in the direction of the tornado while Rose tried to move the other way.

"Jane – best friend or not, I will punch the living astrophysicist out of you if you don't let go of this wheel this instant! I am not risking my life for something this stupid! Okay, I have a fantastic career as an investigative mythological historical journalist and I do not wish to have to end my life early just to help you on your crazy-ass experi—"

Rose was interrupted from her heated rant as unexpectedly, the van slams into the figure of a man. Everyone screamed in shock as Darcy finally slammed on the brakes – the van coming to a screeching halt.

A paralyzed moment settled in between everyone – breathing hardly and looks of shock and disbelief that this was actually happening.

"Holy. Shit!" Rose emphasized each word.

All at once, everyone bolted out of the van and into the desert. Grabbing flashlights, they focused them to find an unconscious man lying apparently lifelessly on the dirt.

"I think that was legally your fault." Darcy blamed Jane. Rose fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Get the first aid kit!" Jane ordered Darcy, in return, running over to the strange man and kneeling down next to him, alarmed. "Do me a favor and don't be dead. Please." Jane begged the unknown man.

When Rose approached Jane and the strange man, she looked down at him and widened her eyes. "Holy shit, he's hot!" When Dr. Selvig shot Rose a look, she continued, "I mean, just look at his face. He's like a God." She didn't even realize the irony within her words.

Jane only rolled her eyes at Rose before asking in confusion, "Where did he come from?"


	2. Tasers and Doctors

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Rosemarie Selvig or any other characters I make up in my head._

**Chapter Two: Tasers and Doctors**

* * *

"Whoa! Does he need CPR? Because I totally know CPR." Darcy spoke as soon as she got a good look at the big blonde man they accidentally hit with their van. The strange man was incredibly attractive-looking with beautiful blue eyes that instantly met with Jane's hazel-brown ones. Everything seemed to freeze for the man as he gazed up entranced by Jane's innocent beauty. Rose instantly noticed the connection between the two of them and a hint of a smirk grazed her lips.

"See anything you like, Janey?" Rose asked in a sing-song voice, teasing her best friend. Jane heard her and her face started to bloom redness from being caught staring at the devastatingly gorgeous man from below her. Ignoring Rose's annoying comment, Jane looked down with concern at the man. Suddenly, the big man started groaning loudly before moving around roughly. Jane looked at everyone in confusion.

"Where did he come from?" she asked once again.

"From his mother's womb, obviously." Came Rose's sarcastic reply. Jane shot her a look of annoyance.

"Thanks, Rose. That really helps out a lot." Jane said sarcastically. Rose only shrugged in return as the man suddenly sprang up from the desert dirt. Everyone immediately backed away as the strange man started pacing in circles, looking incredibly confused and lost. Dr. Selvig grasped his daughter's arm for protection as the big man paced.

"You all right?" Jane asked, concerned. The man seemed to not have heard her.

"Hammer?" he called out, repeatedly.

"Yeah. We can tell you're hammered." Darcy commented humorously. Rose nodded in agreement as she stood by her father's side.

"It's pretty damn obvious." Rose added.

"Oh my God!" Jane gasped as she looked down at the dirt where there appeared to be some sort of strange pattern etched into the sand. "Dr. Selvig, Rose – look at this! We have to move quickly before this all changes!"

Rose didn't hear Jane as she only kept her alert eyes on the odd man who was still striding around intimidatingly.

"Uhm… Jane, we should probably take this big guy to a hospital or something. He's kind of being weird right now." Rose said hesitantly as she shined her flashlight towards the tall man.

"Father!" The tall man yelled out.

"He's fine! Look at him!" Jane waved it off casually as Rose looked at her as if to say _really_?

"Heimdall! I know you can hear me! Open the Bifrost!" The man screamed out angrily.

"Oh yeah, because he's totally _fine_!" Rose commented sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at Jane.

"Hospital." Jane succumbed quickly. "You go, I'll stay."

"You." The man pointed a finger at Dr. Selvig and Jane. "What realm is this? Alfheim? Nornheim?" Rose looked at him as if he were insane. The big man suddenly approached Rose, much to close for her liking, as he grasped her roughly by the shoulders and asked again, "I command you to answer—"

He didn't get to finish as Rose instantly reacted and released a nasty punch on his jaw. The force was enough to make him stumble back in shock, clearly not expecting that. He reached up with a hand and caressed his swollen jaw. Rose hissed in pain, clutching her hand.

"Nice shot!" Darcy complimented her as Rose stroked her aching hand.

"I'm pretty sure I just broke my hand… that's just great…" Rose chuckled.

"Rose!" Dr. Selvig immediately ran to his daughter's side and gripped her shoulders, making sure she was okay. "Damn. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She responded shortly.

Her father quickly looked over her hand and mumbled, "Looks like a sprain to me."

"You dare threaten me with violence, girl!" The man roared angrily as Rose stood her ground, not afraid to defend herself if this man were try to attack her.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Darcy warned the big man as she pulled out a taser gun out of her purse. "I wouldn't get so close to Rose if I were you. She's got them moves like Jagger." Both Rose and Jane rolled their eyes at Darcy's unnecessary comment.

"How dare you threaten me, Thor, with so puny a weapon?" With no warning, Darcy fired the weapon towards the man, known as Thor – electrified wires shooting out of the taser, zapping him violently in the chest. The blonde man convulsed from the shock of the taser before falling to the ground unconscious. Rose, Jane, and Dr. Selvig all stared at Darcy in shock.

"What? He was freaking me out." Darcy defended herself. After a few moments, Darcy and Dr. Selvig both managed to get the burly man into the back of the van.

"Next time you decide to taser someone, make sure he's already in the car, okay?" Dr. Selvig told Darcy irritably as he and the intern worked together to get Thor into the back of the vehicle. Rose would've helped them but with her sprained fist, she couldn't do much. "Jane! C'mon!"

Jane and Rose both closed the back doors and headed into the vehicle as they drove to the nearest hospital.

* * *

Once they got to the hospital, they immediately took Thor in. He was being treated while Rose only quickly got her sprained hand bandaged up. She and Jane were both in a hospital room together while Darcy and Dr. Selvig waited outside in the waiting room.

"I hate hospitals." Rose grumbled to herself, clutching her aching hand.

"Well, maybe you should've been more careful next time." Jane said absentmindedly as she took a seat next to Rose on the hospital bed.

"I was about to be ambushed!" Rose argued. Jane chuckled at her best friend. Rose narrowed her eyes and said, "Don't laugh, Janey. I was practically assaulted! I could press charges!"

"The man was just confused." Jane defended the strange man. Rose gave her a knowing look.

"Are you defending the weirdo? Janey, you don't even know the man. I mean – what if he was just some creepy, pervy psychopath—"

Interrupting Rose, the door opened to reveal a fine young man with surfer-looking ashy-blonde hair and strikingly green eyes and bronze skin. Both Jane and Rose shut up and looked at their gorgeous Doctor.

"Well, hello Doctor Beach Babe." Rose whispered, loud enough for Jane to hear. "Damn, he's fine. What I would do to get a piece of that—"

"Rose!" Jane snapped before flashing a bright flirty smile towards their Doctor.

"Maybe hospitals aren't so bad after all." Rose mused as she and Jane smiled.

"Hello, ladies." The Doctor greeted them both with a kind smile before looking down at his clipboard. "Rosemarie Selvig." He read from his handy-dandy clipboard.

"That's me!" Rose raised her hand with a grin. "But you can just call me Rose."

He smiled and approached her and took her fractured hand in his, inspecting it. "Would you like to tell me what happened?"

Rose only shrugged as if it were nothing. "I punched a guy in the face. No big deal."

The Doctor gave her a strange look but instead shrugged it off as he examined it gently. "All right then, let's take a look, shall we?"

"We shall." Rose grinned.

He lifted up her wrist and put pressure on different parts of her hand. "Does this hurt?" She nodded. "This?" The procedure went on for a couple of minutes. "Well, good news. Nothing is broken but the swelling here shows me that you have sprained it."

Rose let out a sigh. "That's just great."

"Does this happen a lot?" The Doctor asked her with a charming smile. Both Jane and Rose swooned.

"Yeah, I'm kind of accident prone." She made him laugh, score for her. "Technically, it's not my fault."

"I'm sure it's not." The Doctor grinned. "I'll just get you bandaged up, prescribe you with some pain killers and you're free to go."

"Thanks, Doctor." Both Rose and Jane said simultaneously in a dreamy tone of voice. He smiled at the both of them before walking out of the room, leaving the two girls alone.

"Stop flirting with my Doctor!" Rose accused Jane, planting a playful smile on her face.

"He was so gorgeous, Rose!" Jane swooned.

"We should come back here more often. I reckon someone as good-looking as him needs an assistant!" Rose said excitedly.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jane asked with a smirk playing on her lips.

"That I should push you down the stairs and we'll come back tomorrow? Yeah, that'll work!"

"Rose, that's so mean. Push Darcy instead, I'm sure she'll enjoy it."

After the Doctor came back and wrapped up Rose's hand and prescribed her with pain medications, soon, Rose and Jane walked out to find Darcy and Dr. Selvig waiting patiently in the waiting room.

"Hey, guys!" Rose greeted happily.

"How was it?" Dr. Selvig asked his daughter.

"Oh – it was amazing." Rose sighed and Jane let out a laugh.

"Why? You hate hospitals." Darcy pointed out, confused by Rose's sudden change of behavior.

"Not anymore." Jane responded with a smirk.

"What changed?" asked Darcy, incredibly confused.

"Doctor Beach Babe is what changed." Rose answered with a crooked smile on her face.

"Doctor Beach Babe?" Dr. Selvig repeated with a look on his face.

"Let's just say there was one very gorgeous Doctor who happened to be our Doctor." Jane said proudly.

"_My_ Doctor," Rose corrected her.

Dr. Selvig sighed as he wrapped an arm around his daughter's shoulders, "No more hospitals for you."

"Bummer." Rose joked lightly.

* * *

"Name?" The nurse asked politely as everyone stood in front of the receptionist desk in the hospital.

Jane had a hesitant look on her face as she said, "He said it was Thor?"

The nurse spelled out his name out-loud as she typed into the computer before asking Jane once again, "And your relationship to him?"

"I've never met him before." Jane answered quietly.

"Until she hit him with a car." Darcy added.

"I _grazed_ him." Jane corrected.

"I _punched_ him." Rose said, holding up her bandaged hand.

"But she _tasered_ him." Jane said, referring to Darcy.

"Yes, I did."


	3. Wilted Roses and New Evidence

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: I don't own the movie Thor or any of the material I'm using._

**Chapter Three: Wilted Roses and New Evidence**

* * *

After leaving the big burly man known as Thor at the hospital, everyone returned to Jane's workstation to print photos of the Bifrost footage. As soon as they returned, Jane, Dr. Selvig, and Darcy decided to stay up late, fueled with caffeine and excitement from what they spotted. But Rose wasn't very interested in staying up all night long. Instead – she fell into a deep sleep onto Jane's little lumpy sofa couch while everyone else paid attention to the experiment that Jane has been working on for a long time.

She was dreaming. Yet she didn't realize it. The bitter cold wind howled and nipped at her pale skin – drawing unwanted shivers and goose-bumps. She was wearing an elongated white gown that harmonized perfectly with her alabaster skin. Her hair – dark mahogany brown like a cinnamon stick – flowed down in gentle waves behind her. Her eyes – blue as the deep blue sea – gazed straight ahead, staring at nothing in particular as she slowly trudged along in a slow pace.

Wherever she was – it was snowing. And dark. And terribly freezing. Her bare feet crunched into the indulgent snow softly – creating footprints. A bouquet of dark wilted roses rested between her two hands. Rose padded gently through the biting snow – heading into a particular graveyard. Decayed trees with twisted branches surrounded throughout the abandoned cemetery. Sculpted forgotten Angels rested in stone, an artifact of what was left in the gloomy area. Her eyes carefully skimmed each tombstone as she walked past in a dreadfully leisurely stride – until she spotted one precise tombstone.

Kneeling down, her gown matched perfectly with the gleaming snow as she rested her bouquet of dying roses down in front of the tombstone. A stray tear left the corner of her eye as she positioned her hesitant hand on the tombstone, feeling nothing but cold stone.

"Hello, mom," she whispered mournfully, reaching up with her free hand to wipe the stray tear away. "It's been a while since I've paid you a visit." A dry chuckle escaped her throat before she cleared it. "I'm sorry for letting you down, mom." She cried softly, struggling to keep the tears hidden.

Suddenly, she heard a faint rustle behind her. Startled, she snapped her head around to peer behind. She saw nothing. The wind started to pick up speed and howled like ghostly death. Her gown gusted all around her, enveloping her in a cloud of white. She called out hesitantly, "Who's there?" Stupid question. _Wasn't this what happened in horror films_? She thought_. The girl hears a noise and has the nerve to call out who goes there. As if the killer is going to reveal himself before making the attack._

When she didn't receive an answer, her eyes narrowed and her chin raised in defiance. Slowly, she stood up on her feet, gazing out the whipping snow and darkness surrounding her. Cautiously – her feet took steps forward as she looked around her atmospheres. When nothing happened – her tense shoulders started to relax. _I'm going crazy._ She thought with a hint of a smile. She started to turn around before –

Unexpectedly – Rose felt immense agony in her chest – like nothing she's ever experienced before. A pained scream erupted from her mouth when she dared to look down.

A lethal-shaped spear was pierced from her back to the front of her chest. Blood – red as the rose – trickled and oozed – staining her once beautiful snow-white gown. A bead of blood dripped from her mouth as she felt her world spinning around before suddenly being pulled against a force – or someone – she couldn't quite tell.

Rose felt like she couldn't breathe as she was suddenly pulled against the form of what it appeared to be a man. A very tall man. Tears of shock stained her blue eyes as the mysterious figure clapped a cold hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

His grip on her was strong and she could sense that this man or whatever this was, was built with power. Dominant power. The strange figure's other hand slowly reached up and touched some of the blood that was dripping from her wounded chest – he continued to reach up and slowly smeared some of the blood that was on his fingers onto her soft neck.

Rose tried to shift out of this stranger's grip but she wasn't strong enough to overpower his strength. More tears continued to stream down her face as she stood helplessly. The man caressed her neck until pulling her hair back from her face and behind her ear. Leaning down as she struggled in fear, he let out a whisper so deadly, it sent scandalous shivers down her spine.

"_Soon, my love. Soon_."

Rose snapped her eyes open. It took a brief moment for her to realize where she was. After a moment, she shot up on the couch that she was sleeping on, breathing heavily. Looking down in a panic, she felt her chest to make sure there was nothing pierced through it. When she realized she wasn't harmed – she let out a heavy sigh of relief.

It was only just a dream.

"Rose?" she heard her name and looked up as her best friend, Jane, approached her with two steaming cups. Jane had a soft smile on her face as she gently sat down next to Rose. "Thought I'd make you some hot chocolate." Rose took the steaming cup with a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Janey. You're the best." She thanked her friend as she blew some of the steam away before taking a longing sip.

"It's no trouble." Jane assured her softly. "Speaking of trouble – you didn't look like you were sleeping very well. Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Rose stared down at the floor absentmindedly. "Just a nightmare, that's all." She took another sip of her delicious hot chocolate that was managing to keep her calm.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Jane, feeling concern towards her friend.

Rose let out a shaky sigh and recalled of what happened in her dream. It was so strange. She's never experienced a dream like that. More like nightmare. Sure felt like one. She's also never felt such excruciating pain in a dream. Rose actually felt like she was fatally stabbed in the chest…

"Maybe another time," Rose told her, not wanting to tell her the gory details. "I'm just really tired right now. Think I'm gonna go back to sleep."

Jane looked at her doubtfully, knowing for a fact that something was indeed troubling her, but only nodded in understanding. Placing a comforting hand on Rose's knee, Jane told her, "Okay, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me." Jane gave her a soft smile.

"Thanks, Janey."

* * *

"You don't think it was just another magnetic storm, do you?" Dr. Selvig asked Jane curiously the following morning. All night – he, Jane, and Darcy were up trying to investigate of what happened the previous night. Rose still couldn't get her mind off the dream she had last night – it was so weird. And how the hell could she feel that much pain in a dream? Thankfully, no one seemed to have notice her troubles, at least at the moment.

"Look," Jane said as she scanned through her computer. "The lensing around these edges is characteristic of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge."

"A what?" Darcy asked, incredibly confused of what Jane was talking about. Hell, even Rose was confused.

"I thought you were a Science major?" Dr. Selvig asked dryly towards the young intern.

"Political science." Darcy corrected.

When Dr. Selvig shot a look at Jane, she said, "She was the only applicant."

"That's mean, Janey." Rose said, laughing heartily as she shrugged an arm around Darcy. "Admit it – even though she's a little naïve, she's still part of our little family."

"Aww." Darcy beamed as she rested her head on Rose's shoulder.

"An Einstein-Rosen Bridge – a "theoretical" connection between two different points of space-time." Dr. Selvig tried explaining to Darcy. He only received a blank look from the young girl.

"A wormhole." Jane further explained. Darcy made an "ah" face of understanding as Jane picked up the printed photo copy of the constellations and showed it to Dr. Selvig.

"Dr. Selvig, look. What do you see here?" Jane asked the elder man. Rose peeked over his shoulder curiously.

"Stars." Rose answered bluntly.

"Yes. But not our stars." Jane said before spreading a chart on the table, barely being able to contain her excitement. "See. This is the star alignment for our quadrant, this time of the year. So, unless, Ursa Minor decided to take the day off… those are someone else's constellations."

"Interesting." Rose was surprised to find herself intrigued.

Darcy pulled out another frame-grab of the Bifrost footage from the printer and hung it up on the wall when something interesting caught her eye.

"Hey! Check this out!" Darcy gathered everyone's attention. When everyone approached Darcy and looked at the photo, everyone stared, thoroughly amazed.

"_Great Scott_!" Rose quoted Doc from the _Back to the Future_ movies.

"No. It can't be." Dr. Selvig breathed out in shock.

"I think I left something at the hospital." Jane said while walking away to get dressed.

"Shotgun!" Rose called out as Darcy gave her a look; she really wanted to ride shotgun.

* * *

Once everyone arrived at the County Hospital, they immediately went straight for the strange man's room – only to find that he wasn't there.

"Oh, my God!" Darcy exclaimed.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rose added.

They all left the hospital room when Rose saw Doctor Beach Babe walking down the hallway, looking gorgeous as ever. Rose paused to stare at him when everyone continued walking. Jane soon realized that Rose wasn't following and rolled her eyes as she retrieved her friend.

"C'mon," Jane grabbed Rose by her arm and practically dragged her away.

Exiting the hospital, everyone piled into the van – Jane in the front seat, Rose in the passenger seat, and Dr. Selvig and Darcy in the back.

"I just lost my most important piece of evidence." Jane concluded in an angry huff.

"Typical." Darcy commented.

"Or are you just looking for your future boyfriend?" Rose asked with a smirk.

"Shut up, Rose!" Jane snapped but she was starting to blush.

"So, now what?" asked Darcy.

"We find him." Jane said, determined.

"Are you serious?" asked Rose, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Did you see what he did in there? The way he threatened us like that last night? I'm not sure finding him is the best idea." Dr. Selvig said worriedly.

"Well, if anything happens when we do find him, I'll just give him the uppercut." Rose smirked.

"Our data can't tell us what it was like to be inside that event." Jane said. "And he can. So, we're gonna find him."

"Okay." Darcy sighed.

"Good luck with that one." Rose said, slightly sarcastically.

"So, we're gonna look all over New Mexico, right?" Dr. Selvig asked Jane wryly.

"Exactly." Jane smiled at him.

"I hate my life." Rose let out a weary sigh.

Jane turned on the ignition and started to back out of her parking space – only to hit the man they were looking for. Everyone gasped in shock.

"Well done, Janey. Running over your future lover twice in a day. I've never been so proud of you." Rose said, sarcastically.

"Thanks for the commentary, Rose!" Jane snapped as everyone stumbled out of the van to find the big man on the ground in obvious pain. Jane ran towards him and kneeled down. "I'm so sorry. I swear I'm not doing this on purpose!"

"Don't blame Jane. She's just a terrible driver."

"Rose, I will kill you if you don't kill the commentary!"

"_Kill_ is such a harsh word. That's just awfully rude of you, Janey."

"ROSE!"


	4. Strippers and Mjolnir

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the material that I'm using for this story. It's only borrowing, I swear xD_

**Chapter Four: Strippers and Mjolnir**

* * *

"You know, for a crazy homeless guy, he's _pretty_ cut." Darcy complimented the big blonde man in an admiring tone. Both Darcy and Rose were sitting at the table in Jane's lab, staring at Thor who was across the room, standing shirtless, only wearing pants, getting changed from Jane's request. It was, indeed, a nice view for the girls.

"I think he looks better without a shirt, what do you think, Darcy?" Rose asked in a hushed tone, leaning on her hand, looking like she was about to drool. Darcy had to bite a smug smirk.

"With a body like that – might as well not wear any clothes." She said, grinning at the dirty thought as Jane and Dr. Selvig both looked at the two girls disapprovingly. "Oh, by the way," Darcy called towards Thor as he came out from the bathroom. "I'm sorry I tased you."

"And I'm sorry I punched you." Rose added with an apologetic smile towards the blonde man. "No hard feelings, aye?"

"Aye." Thor smiled in agreement. Happily, Rose pumped her fist into the air, bursting with triumph.

"He said '_aye'_! Yes! I'm forgiven!" Rose said favorably as her and Darcy both bumped fists.

"You guys are too much." Jane commented with an annoyed eye roll before she noticed Thor strut over to her lab table with various equipment products that she worked extremely hard on. He started fiddling with the objects, making Jane instantly run over to stop him from touching her stuff. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" she snapped, snatching one of her cords that Thor was playing with and placed it back on the table. Both Darcy and Rose happened to notice that Jane was accidentally checking out his toned body.

"I think Jane just got pregnant." Rose whispered into Darcy's ear as if it were a dirty secret. The dark-haired girl snickered in return. Jane appeared extremely flustered as she tried to look anywhere else but Thor's devastatingly beautiful body.

"What is this?" asked Thor confused as he held up the T-shirt Jane had given to him to wear. He was pointing to a particular name tag. With an '_oh_!' look on her face, Jane stripped off the tag from the shirt, looking embarrassed.

"My ex." Jane explained briefly. "Good with patients and bad with relationships." Rose remembered the douchebag Dr. Donald Blake. Broke Jane's heart and didn't even bother to fix up the pieces.

"That guy had to be gay…" Rose commented like it was no big deal before Jane gave her an offended look. Rose held up her hands as she said, "What? He had to have been! Any guy would have to be crazy or gay to not want to date you!"

Embarrassed, Jane decided not to reply to Rose's comment as she said to Thor, "They're the only clothes that I have that would fit you." She said modestly.

"They will suffice." Thor replied simply.

"You're welcome." Jane responded quietly.

Thor started to put the T-shirt on and Darcy complained out-loud, "What? What are you doing, man? Don't put the shirt back on! I haven't even taken a picture yet!"

"If I throw a dollar at you, will you strip down naked for us?" Rose asked with a wicked grin. Dr. Selvig, who was drinking a cup of coffee, instantly spat it out and started choking as Rose patted his back. "Sorry, dad." She apologized before turning back to Thor with an eager grin. "So, are you a stripper or what? If so – I demand a lap dance right this second!" Dr. Selvig started coughing again, his entire face turning purple.

"ROSE!" Jane shouted her name, looking extremely embarrassed.

"Am I strip-_what_?" Thor asked, confused, and putting on his T-shirt anyway as Darcy let out a pouty frown.

"A _stripper_." Rose corrected him as Darcy smirked, Jane blushed, and Dr. Selvig looked extremely angry. "Is a person who gives pleasurable entertainment to dirty freaks—"

"_Okaaay_." Jane purposely interrupted Rose's words as she stepped next to the tall God. "Let's not get into that particular discussion right now."

"You're right." Dr. Selvig agreed, shooting a dirty look at his daughter who only shrugged in return. "We have much more important matters to discuss. Not something ridiculous like strippers, _Rose_." He said disapprovingly.

"I was just curious." Rose shrugged.

"This mortal form has grown weak." Thor said, immediately changing the subject much to Darcy and Rose's dismay. "I need sustenance." He demanded.

"He needs _what_?" asked Darcy in a hushed whisper towards Selvig who was busy staring perplexed and suspiciously at this strange '_Thor'_ man.

"Food." Selvig answered absentmindedly. "He needs food."

"So… I'm still confused… you're not a stripper?" Rose asked once again as Thor only tilted his head again and looked at her as if she was a foreign alien.

"I do not think so…"

"Damn it!" Rose smacked the table with her sprained hand and immediately regretted as she pouted and cradled the injured hand. "Sorry, hand. Didn't mean to act so violent right there."

Jane sighed while rolling her eyes, "Let's go get something to eat then."

* * *

Once they arrived at the local Diner, they all sat down at a table. Thor was sitting in-between Darcy and Rose, Dr. Selvig sitting next to his daughter, and Jane sitting between Dr. Selvig and Darcy and across from Thor. She noticed the strange man himself kept occasionally glancing at her with that smoldering look of his. Jane couldn't explain it – but this man somewhat intrigued her. He was different, that was for sure. She brushed off that thought and decided to question him as everyone ate their breakfast.

"How'd you get inside that cloud?" Jane asked him curiously.

"Also, how could you eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts and still be this hungry?" Darcy added as Thor shoveled food into his mouth as if he hasn't ate for days. Instead of answering the dark-haired girl, the blonde man only scooped more food into his mouth as everyone kept staring at him.

"Stripper dude sure has a _hearty_ appetite…" Rose observed as she kept staring at Thor while he ate like a horse.

"Will you stop calling him a _stripper_, Rose?" Jane snapped at her, growing tired of Rose continually calling this big man a _stripper_. Then Jane looked at Thor as he took a greedy drink of his coffee. "And you _still_ haven't answered my question!" Once again, Jane was ignored as Thor held up his cup of coffee happily.

"This drink; I like it." Thor beamed.

"_Aww_. He likes his coffee." Rose smiled fondly as she pointed at Thor.

"I know." Darcy said towards the man. "It's great, right?"

"ANOTHER!" Thor shouted and unexpectedly smashed the empty coffee glass down onto the floor, making everyone jump and look at him as if he were crazy.

"What the hell was that?" Rose practically shouted at him. Jane got up from her seat and went to pick up the little glass pieces from the floor as she shot an apologetic look at the lady who ran the place.

"Sorry, Izzy. Just a little accident." Jane apologized before sitting down and facing Thor with a stern look. "What was that?"

"That's what I just asked!" Rose pointed out. Selvig glanced at his daughter wearily.

"You be quiet." He told her.

"You and I both know that's not going to end well." She smiled at her father as he placed his hands on his head and let out a low groan.

"It was delicious." Thor said to Jane. "I want another."

"Well, you could have just said so."

"I just did."

"No, I mean, ask nicely."

"I meant no disrespect."

"All right. Well – no more smashing. Deal?"

"You have my word."

"Good."

During the entire exchange between Thor and Jane, Darcy and Rose both noticed the banter going on between the two of them. Even Dr. Selvig seemed to notice the looks these two were giving each other. _Aww, they are actually kind of cute together_, Rose thought in her head, trying to hide a smile. _I hope Jane makes the right choices_, Dr. Selvig thought in his head, _unlike my idiotic daughter with her weird obsession of strippers_, Dr. Selvig fought back an eye roll from that disgusting thought. _Jane and pretty cut homeless guy = sexy times! _Darcy thought in her head, amused.

"You missed all the excitement out at the crater!" One of the local men gossiped towards his neighbors at the bar table. "They're saying some kind of satellite landed out in the desert." Everyone paused in their thinking at the table and all simultaneously turned to see what the others were talking about.

"Yeah, we were having a good time with it until the Feds showed up." Another man said.

Jane spoke up, rather curiously, "Excuse me. Did you say there was a satellite crash?"

"Yeah." One of the men responded to her.

"Oh my God, this is going on Facebook." Darcy said to Thor, pulling out her phone before saying to Rose, "Rosemarie; get in the picture!"

"Gladly!" Rose said as she scooted up next to the large man and stuck up two fingers behind the oblivious blonde's head, making bunny ears as Darcy laughed.

"Smile!" She took the picture.

"Send me a duplicate! I'll put it on my _Wall of Strangers_ I've met so far!" Rose commented as Jane looked at her strangely.

"What did it look like; the satellite?" Selvig asked the man.

The local man turned towards Selvig and responded, "I don't know anything about satellites but it was heavy! I mean – nobody could lift it." Thor had a strange look on his face as he finished the food on his plate before getting up and heading over towards the burly local man. "They said it was radioactive. I had my hands all over it."

Thor gripped the man's arm and asked calmly, "Which way?"

Shocked at the blonde man's grip, the local man responded evenly, "Fifty miles west of here." Not even bothering in saying anything else, Thor let go of the man's arm and began to walk out of the Diner.

"Wait! Stripper dude, come back! I haven't even gotten my lap dance yet!" Rose yelled as he walked out of the door, making everyone in the Diner giving Rose a bizarre look. She shrugged. "Sorry. Is it inappropriate to use the word '_stripper'_ in New Mexico?"

"Rose; I worry about you." Dr. Selvig said.

"Thank you, dad." Rose thanked, receiving an eye roll from her father.

As soon as Thor left the building, everyone followed out after him. Thor walked out into the streets, blocking the cars different directions as many people spat out profanities out at him.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked him as she finally caught up.

"Fifty miles west of here." Thor answered her shortly.

"Why?"

"To get what belongs to me!"

"Oh – so you own a satellite now?"

"It's not what they say it is."

"Well, whatever it is, the government seems to think it's theirs. So – you just intend to go in there and take it?"

"Yes. If you take me there now – I'll tell you everything you wish there is to know."

"Including the part where you're secretly a stripper but you're just too embarrassed to admit it?" Rose asked, smirking wickedly as Jane looked like she wanted to murder her.

"Lady Rose – I assure you, I am not of what you call a '_stripper'_…" Thor guaranteed her. Rose appeared as if she was going to faint. She turned to Darcy.

"He called me '_Lady Rose'_. Quite a gentleman, wouldn't you say, Jane? We need more of those." Rose said.

Jane decided to ignore that as she turned to Thor, "You'll tell me everything?"

"Yes. All the answers you seek will be yours once I reclaim _Mjolnir_."

"_Myeu-muh_?" Darcy asked confused, pronouncing the word incorrectly.

"What's _myeu-muh_?" Rose added.

"Can I have a word, Jane?" Selvig asked, sounding like he wasn't going to take '_no'_ for an answer as Jane, Darcy, and Rose followed Selvig to the side, out of Thor's hearing range. "Please don't do this."

Softly, Jane argued back, "You saw what I saw last night. This is no coincidence. We have to find out what's in that crater."

Dr. Selvig looked down at Jane concerned, "But I'm not talking about the crater; I'm talking about _him_." Everyone stole glanced at the strange man who called himself '_Thor'_.

"I don't know; I think he seems pretty harmless." Rose disagreed as she turned to see Thor looking down at a cat that walked up to him. He looked down confused at the cat.

"But he's promising us the answers!" Jane spoke excitedly.

Dr. Selvig shook his head and replied his thoughts, "He's delusional. Listen to what he's saying. He's talking about _Mjolnir_ and _Thor_ and _Bifrost_. It's the stories I grew up with as a child; the stories I used to tell Rose when she was a child."

"Oh yeah, I recall that." Rose remembered with a smile. "I particularly enjoyed the tale of Thor and Loki and the Frost Giants – good ole days." Dr. Selvig smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around his daughter, pulling her close.

"Dr. Selvig, please, I'm just going to drive him! That's it!" Jane begged desperately.

Selvig stared at her before saying, "He's dangerous, Jane."

Jane's eager smile slowly disappeared and reluctantly, she walked back over to where Thor was standing and told him, "I'm sorry, but I can't take you."

Thor seemed displeased but said anyway, "Then, this is where we say goodbye." Jane jumped from surprise as the blonde man took her hand in his and kissed her palm sweetly.

"Aww." Rose cooed.

Jane giggled, "Um… thank you?"

Thor looked down at her and smiled before turning to his new friends, "Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, Rosemarie Selvig, and Darcy… farewell…" He bowed.

"_Rose_." She corrected. Honestly, she didn't particularly like her name.

"Very well, _Rose_." Thor corrected himself, smiling.

"There ya go." Rose praised him by giving a _thumbs up_ gesture.

"All right then." Dr. Selvig spoke, slightly relieved that they were getting rid of the strange man. "Back to work."

"Ew…" Rose grimaced as Darcy smiled and wrapped an arm around her as they all walked away from Thor. Only for Rose to realize that Jane was slowly falling behind, obviously staring at the stripper dude.

Maybe Jane is appearing to be somewhat attracted to the stripper dude.

* * *

**Review Responses:**

**Flicker the light: **Don't get mad but I used your phrase 'Aye' somewhere in this chapter, I just had too, because I love that word lol. And yes - I can't wait for Loki, as well! His dynamic character will certainly be interesting to write! And the dream of hers - I don't want to reveal too much or spoil anything, but she will meet that person from her dream VERY soon. Don't want to give anything away but you'll see ;) Hope you're satisfied with the chapter! And thank you!

**AmaryllisBloom: **Please don't die on me! I'm updating as fast as I can! Lol. Since it's Thanksgiving break for me - a lot more updates will be coming your way ;) Thank you again for reading and the reviews!

**Imagination1234: **Why, thank you! I'm glad to hear that someone enjoys this story and finds it funny! That's awesome! And yes - the ROMANCE! I'm telling you, I cannot wait to write when Rose officially meets Loki for the first time. Please be sticking around for more updates to show up soon :)

**seasidewriter1: **Thank you! I did try to be more detailed with the dream sequence. Usually, I'm too lazy to add in more extra details but I really wanted to give that scene more depth because it was a very serious scene unlike the other silly scenes I write in here! Lol. And I think we all have an idea of who that particular person is in the dream... ;) Hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I loved writing it! And btw - still loving the poster, it's amazing!

**grapejuice101: **Thank you! I'm glad you find Rose being awesome! I hope you enjoyed some of the Thor/OC moments added into this, it's not much, but more will come soon, I promise!


	5. SHIELD and Rainbow Bridges

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._

**Chapter Five: S.H.I.E.L.D. and Rainbow Bridges**

* * *

"Janey, you are such a whore; you _so_ wanted his dick." Rose accused her best friend in a sort of joking yet serious type of tone as she and Jane turned around the corner of the town – finally disappearing from Thor's eyesight. The astrophysicist rotated to Rose – equally appalled and flustered that Rose would even go to the trouble of saying that – let alone _thinking_ of that. Thank God, Rose's father, Dr. Selvig, and Darcy were walking ahead of the two women, completely out of earshot. Jane looked at Rose with a stern expression as they walked side-by-side.

"_Rose_! What the hell is wrong with you? Of course not, I did not want his…" Jane couldn't even say it so she whispered instead, "… _thingy_. Okay – you know how I feel when you talk about that kind of vulgar stuff, I don't like it." Ever since they were children, Jane has always been the good girl while Rose was the complete opposite. _Sometimes Jane wondered how they were even best friends_…

Rose smirked as she tucked her hands in her pockets and said to an agitated Jane, "_Janey_. C'mon – you and I both know that there was obviously something going on between you and _stripper dude_. Even though we've only known the guy for like what – _less than twenty-four hours?_ – I noticed the way you two keep looking at each other – actually more like _gazing_, to be honest." Jane cursed in her mind – unfortunately, Rose was right. She just didn't want to admit it.

"Rose." Jane sighed – quite exhausted from the last twenty-four hours of unforgettable events. "Look – there is _nothing_ going on between me and _stripper dude_." Jane rolled her eyes as she said this – resulting in Rose giving her a sly grin. "Even if there was – I assure you, Rose. I wouldn't be walking away like the idiot that I am." Jane mumbled, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Peering at her side-ways, Rose's grin slowly faded into a softened smile towards her insecure friend.

"Aww. Janey." Comfortingly, Rose swung an arm around Jane's shoulder, pulling her in close; Jane sadly placed her head against her companion's shoulder as they walked through the small town. "Don't be such a _Debbie-downer_. If it's any consolation – stripper dude is a hell of a lot cuter than Dr. Ronald Blake A.K.A. _Dr. Douchebag-who-might-be-gay_." Jane couldn't help but chuckle in amusement from Rose's funny commentary. She couldn't deny that her friend has always majored in the field of being there for her and making her laugh, as well.

"Thanks, Rose." Jane gave her an earnest smile and leaning off from her shoulder and just grabbing Rose's hand instead, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "This may sound incredibly cliché – but I honestly wouldn't know what I would ever do without you. Without you – I wouldn't have any fresh air in my dull and lonely life."

"Okay, you _cheesy poet_." Rose teased as she, in return, lightly squeezed Jane's hand, proving to her that she will always be there. "Just kidding. Don't worry, Janey – what are friends for? Speaking of _Friends_ – _So, no one told you, life was going to be this way_." Abruptly letting go of her best friend's hand, Rose clapped along in rhythm to her song from the hit TV series they watched as kids. "_You're jobs a joke. You're broke. Your love life's D.O.A. It's like you're always stuck in second gear_." At this point – Jane was laughing too much from Rose's dreadful singing-voice.

"Stop. Okay. I get it. Thank you, Rose, for that incredibly _awful_ singing act you just brought now." The astrophysicist said, still laughing as Rose mockingly pouted. But unfortunately – Jane was right; Rose was a _terrible_ singer – always has been, always will. She couldn't sing to save someone's life, she was just that bad.

"Thanks for ruining my self-esteem, _Jane Marie Foster_."

"Anytime, _Rosemarie Eloise Selvig_."

Suddenly – both Jane and Rose, noticed a truck honking obnoxiously that passed in front of them… right where Jane's lab station was. Darcy and Selvig both widened their eyes in shock – especially Rose and Jane. Even though Rose could care less about Science but she knew it was Jane's life and passion and devotion and if someone was going to take that away from her; Rose swore that there would definitely be hell to pay.

"_Hey_!" Jane yelled, recognizing her most precious equipment strapped to the back of a pick-up truck. "That's my stuff!" She continued to yell but the truck drove off, ignoring her angry outburst. Everyone watched the van drive off in the distance with her important stuff. Rose clenched her fists – okay – she was certainly going to crack some skulls for whoever was doing this to her best friend. Turning, Jane gasped in horror as she sprinted for a laboratory making everyone follow after her. "_What the hell is going on here?" _she squeaked out in revulsion.

"My thoughts exactly – _what the fuck is going on here_?"

"_Rosemarie_." Her father warned – knowing for a fact that his daughter shouldn't get on the bad side of S.H.I.E.L.D. But honestly – Rose couldn't give a shit who these people were and what they were capable of; they were taking her best friend's stuff and she wasn't about to let that happen. Angrily, Rose strutted pass Jane towards a middle-aged man who appeared to be running the show inside the laboratory.

"Ms. Foster, Ms. Selvig, I'm Agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D." Agent Coulson politely introduced himself. Rose furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion; _how the hell did this Agent Coulson guy or whatever know who she is? _Whatever. That wasn't important at the moment.

"Okay, Agent_ coleslaw_ or whatever the hell your name is." Rose growled, stepping up to the highly-trained Agent with Jane directly right behind her.

"_Is that supposed to mean something to me_?" Jane asked angrily, narrowing her golden-brown eyes onto Agent Coulson. "_You can't do this_!" She begged desperately as the workers of S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to take her equipment out of her beloved lab.

"I swear to God, Agent _coleslaw_ – if you don't leave my best friend's equipment alone, I'll—"

Calmly, Agent Coulson looked at her and said in an annoyingly tranquil voice that somewhat reminded Rose of an operative computer, "Miss Selvig, I believe your threats are wasted. This is serious business, little girl. You either put on your big girl pants or go home. And as for your information, it's Agent _Coulson_, not coleslaw."

Rage flared up and burned within Rose. Threateningly, she dared to take a step closer to Coulson and said in the most intimidating voice she could muster, "I _dare_ you to call me a little girl one more time, Agent. And if you do – we'll see _who_ really needs to put on the big girl pants. Just because you're an Agent, doesn't mean I'll be any less scared of you – it just makes me want to fight you more." Agent Coulson didn't appear to be intimidated by her threat as he only gave her that calculated expression.

"Rose!" Dr. Selvig exclaimed, immediately rushing to his daughter's side. He knew what destruction his daughter could be capable of and quite frankly – he didn't feel like bailing his daughter out of jail anytime soon for nearly assaulting an S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. "This is a lot more serious than you think. Please. Let it go." He whispered in her ear as he pulled her away from Coulson – who watched the father-daughter interaction closely.

Jane who heard Dr. Selvig, looked at him appalled and said in a clearly angered and offended voice, "Let it go? _Are you kidding me?_ This is my life."

"We're investigating a security threat, Ms. Foster." Coulson informed her, infuriatingly calm with the entire situation.

"_Security threat, my ass_." Rose growled as she looked upon the chaos that was surrounding her.

Coulson walked up next to her and began to explain, "We need to appropriate all of Ms. Foster's records and all her atmospheric data."

"By _appropriate_, do you mean steal?" asked Jane furiously as she sauntered over towards a van that was carrying all her important heavy equipment. The Agent operating the vehicle pushed Jane away as she tried to pry her apparatus away.

"Here." Coulson handed her a card. "This should more than compensate you for your trouble."

Crossly, Jane snatched the card from his hand and replied, "I can't just buy replacements at Radio Shack."

"She made most of this equipment herself." Rose added, coming up right next to Jane and glaring at the Agent in front of them.

"Then, I'm sure she can do it again." Coulson guaranteed, not even hesitating as he said this.

"And I'm sure I can sue you for violating my constitutional rights!" Jane spat, disgusted over the fact that she has spent more than half her life focusing on this and now it was all being torn away from her just like that.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Foster. But we're the good guys." Coulson assured her.

"So are we!" Jane argued. "I'm on the verge of understanding something extraordinary." She proclaimed passionately as Dr. Selvig and Rose stared at her with concern. "And everything I know about this phenomenon – is either in this lab or in this book!" She held up her notebook of scientific notes. Coulson glanced at one of his fellow agents, gesturing for him to take the book, as well. "And you can't just take this away – _hey_!" Jane cried out as one of the Agents snatched the book from her and placed it in the van.

"Okay – that's it." Was all Rose said as she tried to dove into the van to retrieve the book for her best friend before one of the Agents and her father reached in pulled her away. She struggled against their grips. "This is not right! I demand a lawyer – right now!"

"Rose. Rose. _Rosemarie_. Easy. Calm down." Her father whispered in her ear, trying to ease down his daughter's nerves. Dr. Selvig shot one of the Agents a dirty glance. But they ignored as they shut the doors to the van and Coulson looked at everyone and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Coulson said, professionally and business-like. Rose opened her mouth to say a nasty reply to Agent Coleslaw but decided better against it and only closed her mouth instead. This seemed to satisfy Coulson as he smiled at them all one last time before departing with his little S.H.I.E.L.D. crew, leaving Jane, Rose, Darcy, and Selvig stranded in the abandoned and empty laboratory.

* * *

"Years of research – gone." Jane muttered, disbelievingly. After S.H.I.E.L.D. left, everyone climbed up and situated themselves up on the roof of the now-empty laboratory, overlooking the entire view of the small town in New Mexico they were at. They all sat in a single file line with Selvig on the end, Rose right next to him, Darcy right beside her, and then Jane on the other side. Rose sighed with weariness as she leaned onto her father's shoulder, needing some support and comfort.

"They even took my iPod." Darcy complained, softly. Feeling sympathy for the much-younger girl, Rose carefully placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"Sorry about that, Darce." Rose called her by her nickname. Darcy nodded along sadly.

"What about the backups?" asked Selvig as he wrapped an arm around Rose's shoulders and slanting his head onto her head, gently embracing her in a fatherly gesture.

"They took our backups." Jane responded, wryly, "They took the backups of our backups. They were extremely thorough."

"_Those assholes_." Rose growled, angrily. Selvig squeezed his daughter's shoulder to remind her that she needed to calm down and not let her anger sprout out.

"I just downloaded, like, thirty songs onto there." Darcy complained, yet again.

"Could you please stop with your iPod?" asked Jane, clearly more than a little irritable. A moment passed when she asked, "Who are these people?"

"Whoever they are – they are in need of some _serious_ ass-whooping." Rose supplied, smirking deviously at the entertaining thought.

"I knew this scientist." Selvig stated, catching all three girls' attention. "The pioneer in gamma radiation." Rose leaned up from her father's shoulder and peered at him curiously, wondering where he was going with this. "S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up – and he wasn't heard from again." Selvig explained mysteriously. Rose looked at him with clear interest shown on her face.

"They're not going to do that to us." Jane told Selvig and everyone in a surprisingly positive tone. "I'm going to get everything back."

"C'mon, please." Selvig practically begged Jane. "Let me contact one of my colleagues. He's had some dealings with these people before. I'll e-mail him and maybe he can help."

Rose remembered something and grimaced, "Uh… Dad?"

"Yes?"

"They took your laptop, too."

"Bollocks."

* * *

Rose and Jane both waited patiently inside Jane's large van in the middle of the small town; Rose in the passenger seat and Jane in the driver's seat. Both of them were sitting in silence and eating ice cream cones.

"I'm so mad." Jane huffed as she licked away most of her ice cream in frustration as Rose watched her best friend in pure amusement.

"Don't take your frustration out on your poor ice cream; it didn't do anything to you." Rose said with a laugh as she too ate her ice cream. Then – she noticed someone. _It was the stripper dude!_ "Found your boyfriend!" she announced and Jane looked at her confused.

"_What_?"

"Stripper dude heading towards Pet Palace. I say we should kidnap him and tie him up in your closet so we can have our wicked way with him." Rose said with a mischievous smile and Jane smacked her arm, both embarrassed and disgusted from the weird thought.

"Why am I friends with you?" Jane laughed before putting her vehicle in gear and driving up to where Thor was heading into the small pet shop.

As soon as Jane pulled up beside the pet shop, Rose leaned over Jane and yelled out the window towards the big blonde man, "Hey, stripper dude! Get inside! Jane wants to kidnap you so she can have her wicked way with you!" Thor turned around and only stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. Jane appeared embarrassed as she pushed her playful friend away from the window.

"I'm sorry about her; she's a handful. Do you still need that lift?" Jane asked in a somewhat hopeful tone which Rose totally caught as a small smirk spread across her face. Thor only nodded to Jane's request and quickly headed towards the van. "Rose, allow our guest to sit in the passenger seat." Jane ordered her.

Rose looked at her friend in horror, "_What_? I always ride shotgun, Janey! You can't take that privilege away from me!"

Jane only stared at her calmly as Thor waited patiently outside the passenger door, "I'm putting you on a time-out."

"For _what_?"

"_For_ being a dirty-minded and disobedient friend that you are."

"I'm not even sorry."

"I know you aren't." Jane said to her in a sickly-sweet tone before pointing to the back of the van and ordering in a strict tone, "Get in the back, Rose."

"I like this dominant side of you, Janey. So weird and attractive for you at the same time."

"Uhm… thank you?"

"You're welcome." With that being said, Rose moved out from the passenger seat and allowed Thor to take her spot as she made herself comfortable between the two future lovebirds. As soon as Thor buckled and made himself comfortable, Rose leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Treat my seat well, stripper dude, or you shall face my wrath."

Thor looked a bit disturbed but said anyway, "I shall treat your seat well, Lady Rose."

"Great."

Jane rolled her eyes as she grabbed Rose's shoulder and pushed her away from Thor and into the back before saying, "Ignore her. She tends to defensive for her favorite things such as that passenger seat that she's made herself comfortable on plenty of times."

Thor only stared at Jane and only smiled. Rose didn't fail to notice this as she looked between the two and a devious smile spread across her face.

* * *

"I've never done anything like this before." Jane commented after moments of silence as she drove them to the site where the supposed radio satellite was that Thor seemed to know so much about. Rose snorted when she heard Jane say this excitedly.

"Congratulations; you're officially a rebel." Rose said sarcastically along with an eye roll.

"Thank you, Rose." Jane actually took Rose's sardonic comment as a compliment and then peered over at Thor and asked him, "Have you ever done anything like this before?"

"Many times." Thor responded, mysteriously. Rose cocked her head, curiously. _What exactly was that supposed to mean? _"But you're brave to do it, Jane." Rose rolled her eyes and made a face at the cheesy comment the stripper dude just made.

"Well – they stole my entire life's work." Jane explained in an angry huff as she drove. "I don't really have much left to lose."

Gazing at the beautiful woman in the driver's seat, Thor said in a charming voice, which made Jane's heart flutter a bit and make Rose, once again, roll her eyes, "But you're clever. Far more clever than anyone else in this Realm."

Slightly offended, Rose said, "_Excuse_ you, Mr. Stripper Dude."

Thor laughed in amusement at the affronted girl, "No worries, Lady Rose. I find you to be very amusing and far more comical than anyone I've ever known."

The offense disappeared in Rose's face and tone of voice, "I like him, Janey. I think we should keep him."

"I think that you should be quiet." Jane said to her with a slight smirk and Rose only gave her a look. She turned to Thor and asked, "You said _Realm_? _Realm_?"

"You think me, strange?" asked Thor, curiously with a small smile.

"Yeah." Rose said, bluntly.

"Unfortunately, I agree with Rose." Jane said, almost looking sheepish towards the handsome man.

"Good strange or bad strange?" questioned Thor with a slight smirk forming at the corner of his mouth as he stared at Jane for a reaction.

"Take off those clothes and I guess we'll find out." Rose said as she playfully wiggled her eyebrows.

"I take it your lady friend is stranger than me." Thor said, peering behind him to glance at Rose.

"At least she's a good kind of strange." Jane told him.

"Right here, folks. Right here." Rose said as she raised her hands. She hated it whenever people would be talking about her right in front of _her_.

They both ignored her as Thor asked Jane, "Then what about me? Good strange or bad strange?"

"I'm not quite sure yet." Jane smiled towards Thor before hitting a bump on the road, shaking the van a bit, making Rose slightly jump.

"Janey, I love you and all that happy shit… but you're a terrible driver."

"No comment." Jane said, focusing on the road, making Thor chuckle at her comment. Jane glanced at him and smile graced her lips as they both chuckled, leaving Rose watch them both awkwardly before the chuckles gradually stopped. "Who are you?" asked Jane abruptly. When Thor hesitated, the golden-brown eyed beauty continued, "_Really_?"

He smiled and replied oddly with a smile, "You'll see soon enough."

Rose clapped her hands and pointed at Thor with an _I-Told-You-So_ look on her face towards Jane, "I called it! I so freakin' called it! He _is_ a stripper! But seriously – _can I still have that lap dance_?"

Jane ignored Rose and furiously replied to Thor, "But you promised me answers!"

Once again, Thor paused to look at her as Jane heatedly turned back to face the road before he said, "What you seek; it's a bridge."

"Like an _Einstein-Rosen_ Bridge?" asked Jane, curiously.

"More like a _Rainbow_ bridge." Thor corrected.

Rose groaned, "Aw, man! You've got to be kidding me! That's just _marvelous_! Stripper dude happens to be gay. No wonder why I didn't get no lap dance. Sorry, Janey. Didn't mean to get your hopes up on possibly getting it on in bed with stripper dude."

"Rose!" Jane shouted at her, surprised and mortified by her friend's outburst.

"_Getting it on in bed_?" asked Thor, staring at Jane to where she felt that her entire face was on fire that point.

"This conversation is over." Jane ended the discussion and prayed to God that they would arrive at the satellite area soon enough.

After a moment of eerie silence, Rose asked, "Are we there yet?"

Jane's eye twitched in response.


	6. Insane in the Membrane

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: Please, don't sue me. I own absolutely in the Marvel universe or Thor or any of the material I'm currently using right now. _

**Chapter Six: Insane in the Membrane**

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Jane thanked the Lord when the van continued up the hillside once it was dark outside, revealing where they were coming for. A faint light was illuminating the valley beyond. As the van approached the site closer, they saw that the glow appeared to have come from a massive S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

"_Holy shit_," breathed out Rose in shock as she pushed herself up between Jane and Thor as they approached the site in the van closer but still remaining out-of-sight from the workers down there. She noticed around the specific crater – there were vehicles, trailers, barricades. Armed guards were securing over a razor-wire fenced gate that appeared to have reached fifty yards from the crater's edge, enclosing the complex. Clear, plastic access tubes with junction boxes lead to a translucent cube structure erected in the middle of the crater. Unknown to Jane, Rose, and Thor – through the glass walls of the base's command trailer, Coulson was busy directing a team of technicians. Within the cube structure itself, a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists were working with high-tech machinery, analyzing the object at the center of it all – the _Mjolnir_.

Slyly and quietly – Jane managed to park the van outside the base unit, making sure to remain hidden so that they wouldn't get in trouble. Rose grabbed a pair of binoculars before everyone left the van so they could see what was happening up close. It was terribly dark and freezing outside as everyone carefully kneeled or crawled on the desert dirt to remain hidden. Approaching the edge of the hill – Rose laid flat on her stomach and peered through the binoculars, looking at the incredible construction site.

"_Oh snap_!" Rose exclaimed softly, peering around the site, "I may not be the smartest person here – but that is _no_ satellite crash. _Idiots_." She rolled her eyes thinking of the idiotic Agents of freakin' S.H.I.E.L.D. or whoever those _assholes_ were that stole all of Jane's equipment and books that she's been with her entire life.

"Let me see." Without warning – Jane snatched the binoculars from Rose. Since the binocular-strap was around Rose's neck – Jane was unknowingly chocking Rose since the strap was cutting off her oxygen. Noticing this, Thor was about to say something before Jane interrupted him, naively also ignoring a choking Rose, as well as she said, "That _isn't_ a satellite crash. They would have hauled the wreckage away, not built a city around it – _Oh_!" Finally realizing that Rose was about to faint from lack of oxygen – Jane put down the binoculars and gave them back to Rose so she could breathe. With a sheepish expression on her face, Jane apologized feebly, "_Sorry, Rose_."

"If you wanted me dead, just _kill_ me. Don't _torture_ me with lack of oxygen – _Ow_!" Rose winced from her speech, sounding terribly out-of-breath as she soothingly rubbed her throat, suddenly feeling very thirsty.

"Here." Thor said as he stripped off his jacket and placed it on Jane's petite body. "You're going to need this." He guaranteed her.

"_Gee_. Don't I feel loved?" Rose's remark was sarcastic as she glanced at the two future lovebirds. Of course, like always, she was ignored due to the fact that Thor and Jane were staring at each other intently – as if they were resisting the urge to just rip each other's clothes off and have their wicked way with each other. Rose shuddered at that thought of her best friend getting down with some weird, homeless stripper dude.

"_Why_?" Jane seemed to have found her voice – though it was small and feeble as she gazed into the handsome blonde man's beautiful eyes. As if God had heard – thunder started rumbling overhead in the mysterious dark sky.

"_Oh, man_!" Rose complained – hoping to God that it wouldn't rain. _Rain, rain – go away. Come again some other day. _She sang in her head. "Please don't make me sing the "_Thunder Buddies_" song because my thunder buddy is too busy having eye sex with _stripper dude_!" More rumbling was echoing loudly, making Rose slightly jump. "I guess this is God's own way of telling me to _shut up_. That's awfully _nice_ of him." She said, cynically.

"Stay here." Thor ordered both women – but he was still staring down at Jane as he said this. Rose had to admit; the way they were looking at each other, it was kind of cute, but crazy at the same time. "Once I have the _Mjolnir_, I will return what they stole from you." He was still gazing at Jane – appearing to already know that one of the women, or both, was bound to disobey is order. He asked Jane in a soft tone of voice, "_Deal_?"

Jane seemed to have snapped back into reality as she passed him a stern look and replied, "No! Look what's down there! You can't just walk in, grab our stuff, and walk out!"

"If they catch you; we're all screwed!" Rose added, sounding serious for once.

Thor glanced at both of them and responded, "No." Jane sighed in relief and Rose shot him an odd look. _No? What was that supposed to mean? _She thought. "I'm going to _fly_ out." Thor corrected – as if this was everyday talk. _Okay – so that was what it was supposed to mean._ Before either girl could say anything – Thor was already heading down towards the crater, leaving them two behind.

"Stripper dude is _insane in the membrane_." Rose commented. Jane hated to agree with her best friend on that part – but honestly, this man, whoever he was; he was _insane_. Jane was about to take the binoculars from Rose away again before Rose said, "_Ah! Ah! Ah!"_ She took off the strap from her neck and then handed the binoculars to Jane. "I'd rather not die tonight, _thank you_." She remarked sarcastically as more lightning and thunder barreled throughout the darkened sky.

The women both observed intently as Thor snuck through the fence, managing to tear it miraculously apart and accomplish to somehow fit through the barrier. In amazement and awe and a bit of confusion – Rose watched with complete interest as the insane blonde man hides out of view when a pair of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents arrive to the unusual site in a Jeep to probably investigate what the large gap in the fence was. Both Jane and Rose froze in anticipation – wondering what was going to happen next.

_Please kick their ass, please kick their ass_. Rose repeated in her head, getting giddy from excitement. Suddenly, a mass crack of lightning illuminated the dreary night sky – revealing the silhouette of the large blonde man standing outside the driver's Jeep. Noticing the big man, the Agents both reached for their weapons but they sadly weren't fast enough as Thor elbowed the driver across the jaw, causing him to drop his weapon and making him slump over the wheel, most likely passed out.

"Holy _shit_!" Rose cursed before Jane shushed her – so they wouldn't attract any attention.

The other Agent on the other side of the Jeep started to raise a shotgun at Thor making Rose tense. For some reason – even though this guy was cracked – she felt that she could somehow trust him, in a weird way. She figured Jane felt the same way – except her feelings for this man were more than just _friend_ feelings. Unexpectedly – Thor grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, yanking it out of the poor Agent's hands before thrusting the hilt back – ending up smashing the Agent's jaw.

"_Ouch_." Rose commented, wincing as she caressed her own jaw as if she's the one that just got smacked. "I wish I had my video camera; that was so _bad-ass_!" She and Jane watched eagerly as Thor reached into the Jeep, grabbing a rain slicker to blend in more. "_As if that's going to help_…" Rose scoffed to herself. Thor, now wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. rain slicker, made his way across the base, passing Agents and the trained Agents themselves never looked at him. Rose whispered to herself, "_And those dumb idiots are Agents_…?"

Another S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent approached the abandoned Jeep, and spots the two unconscious Agents that Thor knocked out. He quickly called into his radio, "Agents down! We've got a perimeter breach!"

"_Oh, my God_!" Rose said, disbelievingly before all of a sudden, the thunder was rumbling so loudly that rain started pouring down, making her flinch since she was only wearing a thin-jacket and jeans. "Goddammit!" she cursed, huddling herself as the cold water rained down. "Janey, give me that!" She tried ripping the big jacket away that Thor gave to Jane.

"_What_? No!" Defiantly, Jane ripped the big jacket from Rose's grip and said, "He gave this jacket to _me_ and I'm cold."

"Don't be such a bitch, Janey. And just hand over the jacket." Rose's tone was sounding very annoyed and threatening at the same time.

"_No_!"

"_Why not_?"

"_Because I said so_!"

"_That's it_!"

Without warning – Rose tackled Jane, making them both tumble over the hill they were hiding on and sliding down as they both fought for the warm jacket because it was raining so much. Wet and thick mud stained both the women. It was a good thing that most of the Agents weren't outside, probably busy trying to fight and stop the big, crazy blonde man that was on a mission to find his precious _Mjolnir_. With a battle-cry, Rose pinned Jane down and laughed manically as she was able to take the jacket from her grip but was saddened to find that the entire jacket was drenched with water and mud.

"_You've got to be kidding me_." Rose murmured to herself as she realized that both she and Jane were soaked to the bone and had mud all over their clothes and body.

"Great job, _Rosemarie_." Jane mocked as she pushed Rose off of her and sat up, gesturing to the both of them wildly. "Now – we're both covered in _filth_!" She didn't know why, but Rose started laughing, humored by the fact that they were both fighting for the jacket so that they wouldn't get soaked in the rain; only to get into a fight and slid in mud down a hill – resulting in both them _and_ the jacket covered in mud. It was just _absurd_.

"I've changed my mind; _you_ can have it." Rose said with a slight smirk as she handed back the soiled jacket to her friend. Jane snatched the jacket from her and flung it uselessly away. Jane glared at her but she couldn't help but tug a smile towards Rose.

"I _hate_ you – yet I _love_ you at the same time."

"That's what friends are for."

Jane and Rose both laughed until it died and they were left in unnerving silence.

"So, now what?" asked Jane.

"Maybe would be a good idea to get a hold of Papa Selvig." Rose suggested as Jane nodded in agreement and pulled out her surprisingly dry cell-phone out of her pocket and handed it to Rose. Making herself comfortable in the wet mud, Rose dialed her father's number only for it to go straight to voicemail. _Figures_. "Hi, dad! Okay, first of all – don't get angry, Jane and I perfectly fine – at least for now." More sounds of mayhem was echoing from inside the base unit where Thor was at. "But just letting you know – if you don't hear from us again, you might want to come out to the crater site and look for us. We kind of did what you said we shouldn't do. So yeah. Love ya. Bye now." Rose hung up the phone with a heavy sigh. "He didn't answer—"

"_Well, I kind of figured since you left him a voicemail message and all_," Jane's response was completely sarcastic making Rose smirk at her friend. Usually, Rose was the sarcastic one. She had to admit though, Jane was good at using sarcasm; she should use it more often.

Coulson emerged from the S.H.E.L.D. command trailer and marched across the mud, radio to his ear, making Rose and Jane duck from being seen. Coulson looked out across the lit-up site uneasily. A S.H.I.E.L.D. guard moved through the base, rifle in hand. From the shadows behind a trailer, a figure looked out at him. As the guard raised his radio to check in, Thor quickly rushed towards him and choked him out, making the guard fall to the ground. Thor noticed the particular AR-15 rifle lying on the ground beside the fallen guard. He stared down at the weapon quizzically as if he's never seen it.

As more guards approached, Thor snatched up the weapon and took cover in the shadows of the trailer. The guards passed by. Peering around the corner, Thor saw the well-guarded main entrance tube to the center of the site. Rose had to admit – even though this guy was crazy, she was actually rooting for him.

A bright light suddenly illuminated Thor's face. He looked to see an ATV moving across the site, shining its spotlight right on him. Thor saw that the ATV driver has spotted him. The Driver raises his radio to report. Thor knew he had to act fact; he raised the rifle – then flipped it over in the air and caught it by the barrel. He reared the weapon back, then hurled it like a hammer. It flew through the air, surprisingly smashing the ATV's spotlight.

"Holy _guacamole_!" Rose exclaimed as her and Jane looked in shock.

Glass and debris showered the poor driver, who took his hands off the wheel to protect himself. The ATV roared out of control past the guards near the tube entrance. The guards noticed and chased after it. Thor emerged from the shadows, watches the guards abandoning the site entrance.

The ATV Driver looked forward in panic as the ATV approached the crater lip. Rose and Jane watched in pure amazement as the vehicle careened over the edge of the crater and headed straight for one of the plastic tunnels. The Technicians inside scattered as the ATV crashed into it, tearing into the tunnel, sending sparks everywhere. The ATV finally came to a stop, the tunnel collapsing around it and the Driver. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents rushed in behind to help the damage that's been caused.

To avoid being seen, Jane and Rose both managed to climb back up the muddy hillside, peering over the ridge, staring down at the frenzied aftermath of the ATV crash, at the base on high alert. Lightning cracked in the sky behind them.

They both noticed Coulson climbing to the lip of the crater as the cold showers of the rain continued to drench down into the desert. Rose noticed Coulson eyeing the damage of the ATV crash. He didn't appear to be pleased. _Good_, Rose snorted to herself. As S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents pulled the ATV driver from the wreckage, Thor raced towards the unguarded entrance to the tunnels and headed inside. Rose silently cheered for him and Jane silently hoped that he would be okay.

Thor raced up the entrance ramp. Before him, two Guards rounded the corner. With no effort – Thor knocked out the first Guard, then tackled the second. He hurried around the corner, when more Guards came up a ladder ahead. Thor punched the closest Guard, sending him tumbling backwards, toppling the others on the ladder behind him. Hurriedly, Thor takes off running, as the Guards regroup and give chase. _Go, stripper dude! You go!_ Rose silently cheered him on. Thor spotted the glow of _Mjolnir_ in the central cube, through the translucent walls of the tunnels. He hurries through to tunnels to find a way towards it. He was so close.

Coulson stood on the crater lip, barking out orders, as the Guards in the tunnel rush to cut off Thor. Coulson activated his radio, "I want eyes up high. With a gun. Now!"

"Oh God, whatever you're doing, stripper dude, I really suggest you do it faster!" Rose begged quietly as she and Jane continued to watch all the action from the hill as if this was some Hollywood movie.

A Sniper, dressed in black tactical gear and high-tech night-vision equipment picked up a rifle, slings it over his shoulder and headed out. The assassin approached the crane bucket and leapt in as the bucket lifted out in the air.

Through the translucent plastic – Thor was still racing through the tubing. As Thor sprints through the tunnel, a Guard ran right at him on a collision course. With no trouble, Thor takes him out with a punch to the gut, then turns to see more Agents coming towards him. The blonde man picked up the fallen Guard he punched, then threw him at the approaching Agents, scattering them. Speedily, Thor turns around, and ran back the way he came. The Agents chased after him.

Jane and Rose – both equally frustrated – looked down at the crater, each taking turns with the binoculars but they both couldn't see what was happening inside.

Coulson watched the action commotion in the tunnel complex. He suddenly headed off for the command trailer to enter the tunnels.

The crane basket ascended into the high winds as the assassin, otherwise known as _Clint_ _Barton_, readied his sniper rifle.

Back inside the complex, Thor was heading down a ladder from the junction box, with other Agents converging on him.

Coulson entered the tunnels through the command trailer. He called in on his radio, "Barton. Talk to me."

Barton replied confidentially through the radio while taking aim, "One shot, one kill, sir. Just give the word." Through Barton's night-vision, he was overlooking the entire complex. It was a clear field-of-vision; nowhere to hide. A digital read-out gave information on the distance to the target. Barton locked in on Thor, who was inside the plastic tubing – emerging from the junction box and heading towards the cube structure. "Hello, handsome." Barton whispered as he locked his target on the blonde man.

Thor sprinted through the tunnel, coming across yet another wall of Agents. Thor scoffed to himself. _He could do this all day. _Roaring, Thor barreled through them – throwing punches, elbowing, whatever it took to keep moving to get what he wanted most. As he successfully takes down the last Agent, Thor sees the last junction box and the entrance to the cube structure up ahead. He raced towards it with an eager grin. He could actually see the _Mjolnir_ within the middle of the structure, when – _BAM_! From out of nowhere, a fist shot out and landed a powerful blow across his jaw, sending him reeling. Dazed, Thor looks up to see a huge S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent standing over him – the biggest of them all, standing between him and his beloved hammer in the cube structure beyond.

"You're big." Thor grinned. "Fought bigger."

As they fought – Thor and the huge Agent exploded through the wall of the junction box, then crash into the mud, sending them sliding.

"Yeah! Whoop his ass, stripper dude!" Rose quietly cheered him on which made Jane slightly giggle despite that the fact that she was worried immensely for Thor.

Barton had Thor in his sites. The Sniper stood still as a statue. Coulson hurried through the tunnel, ready to give the word to Barton, when he stops short. He saw what it looked like an electrical storm erupting inside the structure ahead, directly above the crater – and the hammer.

Thor and the huge Agent struggled to stand in the mud. Through the translucent walls of the cube structure, Thor saw the _Mjolnir_. The huge Agent rises up before him, blocking his view. Rain and blood ran down in dirty streaks on the God's face. He lunged forward, whipping his feet in front of him, then kicks out, nailing the huge Agent in the chest. The Agent went down hard as Thor's momentum carried him past. Thor stands, preparing to head for the cube structure, when the huge Guard grabbed his ankle in a last feeble effort. Thor looked back down at his foe, then dropped backwards, pile-driving his elbow into the collapsed Agent's chest.

"Ow." Rose winced as she touched her chest. "That ought to hurt."

"No kidding." Jane agreed.

The huge Agent grimaced in obvious pain, defeated. Satisfied – Thor raced back towards the structure. From outside, Thor ripped an opening in the plastic wall of the structure. He stood there for a brief moment – soaked to the bone, bleeding, and caked with wet earth. His hammer rested for him just a few yards before him, energy surging around it. Coulson stepped into the structure through an access tunnel, one story up from where the big blonde man was. As Thor with a hopeful grin approached his hammer, the _Mjolnir_ started to glow brighter, blue electricity sparking off its surface. The crackling energy seemed to reach out to him. Coulson noticed this – his interest piqued. Above the open ceiling of the structure, Barton's crane bucket hovered over the view. Wind and rain whip around Barton as he stared into his rifle site, locked on the back of Thor's head – his finger on the deadly trigger. Thor stood next to the hammer, feeling its incredible power. He reached out to it confidently.

Coulson watched from above with undeniable curiosity spread across his face. He couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next. Armed Agents approached behind him. He motioned for them to hold their positions, then radioed, "Barton…" In the crane bucket, Barton stood ready to take Thor down, his finger staring to squeeze the trigger.

"What I would give to have a bucket of popcorn right now…" Rose mumbled as she watched the scene with wide eyes.

"Shut up…" Jane muttered in annoyance.

"Hold your fire." Coulson softly ordered Barton. Releasing the trigger, Barton pulled up. Coulson watched the blonde God with anticipation as Thor wrapped his hand around the hammer. Triumphant – Thor smiled. He began to lift – only to find that the hammer didn't move. Confused, Thor tried again with two hands but with no avail. Anger and frustration overpowered his body. He strained with all his might, screaming from the effort, bellowing up at the storm and lightning above him.

"Poor stripper dude…" Rose sighed as she stared down at the site, leaning against her hand.

Something began to appear on the side of _Mjolnir_ – glowing runes. Thor looked down, seeing them. But, still, the hammer doesn't budge. Thor fell to his knees before it, rain pouring down around him, as the glowing runes fade away. He knew he failed. _Unworthy_.

Coulson looked on, feeling a bit disappointed. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents crept in, guns trained on Thor, surrounding him. Coulson activated his radio, "Ground units. Move in. Show's over." As the Agents surround him, Thor doesn't seem to notice or care. He just sat there on his knees, head bowed in the rain – a man broken; lost.

Jane lowers her binoculars – sensing that things have gone from bad to worse. Both her and Rose glanced at each other quietly. Suddenly – a spotlight swept over them. They both heard the sound of dogs and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents approaching.

"Let's go!" Jane instantly grabbed Rose's arm, preparing to bail the place.

"You go! I'll stay!" Rose told her, seriously.

"_What_?" Jane asked, looking at her best friend as if she was insane.

"I'll go help bail your future boyfriend out of there and you go back to the laboratory and just tell everyone that I'm all right, okay? If I don't come back tonight – just come back over here. Okay?"

Jane sighed, not liking this idea one bit but said reluctantly, "Just be safe."

"Always am." Rose said with a slight smile as Jane shook her head in amusement before making a quick retreat back to the van. Rose – remaining hidden from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents watched silently as the van drove off quietly into the dark desert. Solemnly, Rose turned back to the site before her – wondering how in the hell she was going to get Thor out of there.

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Inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. holding cell – Thor sat in a chair, completely dry and clean from the mud and rain, stared forward blankly, hands cuffed behind him. Coulson stood across from him.

"It's not easy to do what you did." Coulson said, intrigued by this strange man. "You made us all look like a bunch of mall cops. That's hurtful." Thor didn't say anything or acknowledge him; he was too upset to learn upon the fact that he was never going to find a way to go back home.

"The men you so easily subdued are highly-trained professionals, and in my experience, it takes someone who's received similar training to do what you did to them. Would you like to tell me where you received your training?" asked Coulson with obvious interest. Once again, Thor doesn't answer – only sitting in eerie silence.

"Pakistan? Chechnya? Afghanistan?" Coulson tried asking further. "Then again, you strike me more as the soldier of fortune type. What was it, South Africa?" Still no answer. Coulson doesn't seem to be angry by this though. Calmly, he continued, "Certain groups pay well for a good mercenary. Especially _Hydra_." He waited for a response but got none.

"Who are you?" It was demanding yet soft.

Ever so slightly, Thor lifted his head and responded in a broken, weak voice, "Just a man." This didn't seem to satisfy Coulson.

"One way or another, we find out what we want to know. We're good at that." Coulson told him, serenely.

Interrupting them, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent cautiously stepped into the brightly-lit room, alerting Coulson, "Sir, it appears that you have a visitor."

Never prying his eyes away from Thor, Coulson replied, "Not now."

"Sir, let me rephrase that; you have a very _pissed-off_ visitor." The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent responded in sardonic tone.

With an exasperated sigh, Coulson asked him, "Would this _pissed-off_ visitor appear to be Miss Selvig?" This made Thor look up with hope – hopeful that it was them to come for his rescue.

"It would appear so, sir." The Agent confirmed with a brief nod.

Coulson caved, "Very well." Then he turned to Thor and with a strict tone, he said, "Stay put. I'll be back with you shortly." When Thor lowered his head and didn't respond, the Agent and Coulson left the room, leaving the blonde God alone, or so he _thought_ he was…

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**Review Replies:**

**Thane lover: **I will continue and thank you for the incredibly sweet review that you left me :D I also love the Jane and Thor romance, they are so very cute together. I promise, I will continue and thank you for reading and reviewing once again :)

**Imagination1234: **I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter just as much as I loved writing it, and I promise I will continue writing this story, since this is my favorite to write :D

**SecretWonderland96: **Hi! First of all - I love your username, it's AWESOME! And - thank you for the lovely review! I'm glad that you enjoy the relationship/banter between Jane and Rose, I enjoy writing them, as well. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, so thank you :)

**Outsidel0okingin: **Hi! I hope you're doing okay. And what can I say? Thor is a charming gentleman and yes, I thought it was also adorable how Thor called Rose, "Lady Rose." Hope you enjoyed this chapter and again, I hope you're doing okay :)

**seasidewriter1: **Thanks so much for the review last chapter! I admit, I was laughing to myself when Rose called Agent Coulson "coleslaw" Lol. And I really want to thank you for helping me with most of these ideas, I could not write this without your help! Next chapter will especially be interesting... so stick around :D

**grapejuice101: **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Aww, but I love goofy Rose lol. But yes - soon she will have some real, serious moments. Just you wait and see ;) I also want to thank you for the tremendous help you've aided me throughout the story, so thank you, a million times :)

**lostfeather1: **Thank you so much for the review, I really, really appreciate it. I only hope and pray that you continue loving the story and Rose just as much as I love writing them both :) And yes - soon, everything will be epic. Take care! :)


	7. Mission Failed

**Only Human**

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing._

**Chapter Seven: Mission Failed**

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So much for Rose's plan to go incognito. Originally – she was planning on dressing up as a pizza guy from Round Table but then she thought to herself, "_Nah. They'd never fall for that. Stupid smart people_." As if she was going to just strut up towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. base unit, wearing a freakin' fake-ass mustache and pull back her elongated chestnut-brown hair into a cap, and just walk up with an empty pizza box and say, "Delivery for stripper dude." _Yeah – because that's just a greaaat plan_. She thought sarcastically.

So, of course, she scrapped that idea. Then, she thought of sneaking in through the entire unit like a ninja, but she realized in the long run that she didn't even have a good chance at that. The Agents that worked there were _practically_ like trained ninjas. And she was just an amateur – _damn it_.

Instead of wearing a stupid disguise or trying to sneak in like a boss – Rose only decided it would be best to be best to ask _nicely_ if they could let stripper dude go. Of course, knowing herself, it was going to take up a lot of energy to be _nice_. Nice wasn't on her usual agenda. But, she knew she had no choice but to slip on a fake-ass smile with all teeth and a _somewhat_ pleasant attitude.

Confidentially – not even caring if there was dried mud all over her clothing, body, face, and hair – she walked down the muddy hill, making sure to steer clear away from some of the Agents so that way she wouldn't get kicked out immediately. Trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible – she thanked the Lord when she was able to arrive to the main door where the security was at. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent himself, appearing to be around the brink of his late forties with nice brown hair and matching eyes – gave her an analyzing look, appearing to be confused as to why this muddy girl was doing here. If it weren't for the guy's age, Rose would have thought he was rather handsome looking.

"Miss," he addressed professionally. Rose returned with a brilliant smile obviously in a flirty way – whatever it took to get her to be able to see Agent Coleslaw. "Can I help you?" he didn't return her smile. _Asshole_.

"You most certainly can help me." Rose replied, smoothly. The elder Agent narrowed his eyes at her. Obviously – whoever this was, he didn't seem to trust her. Was it because of the fact that she was all dirty and muddy and not in the most attractive way? When the Agent didn't reply, Rose continued in a condescending tone, "I hate to interrupt your hard work and all," _not really_, "but I was hoping if you could just allow me one moment to be able to have a quick chit-chat sess with Agent Coleslaw." Again, she flashed him a flirty smile, hoping that she would succeed.

"Agent _Coleslaw_?"

"Yes. Did I _stutter_?"

"Don't you mean Agent _Coulson_?"

"Same difference."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent stared at her for a moment before, "I apologize, miss. But I'm afraid to inform you that Coulson is not accepting visitors upon this point of time." _Oh, no, no, no. This just wouldn't do it at all_. One way or another, Rose was going to make sure she sees Coleslaw. Or Coulson. Whatever. Not important.

Rose erupted a harsh, bitter laugh as she said to the Agent in a bittersweet tone, "And I'm afraid to inform you that it is absolutely necessary for me to see Coleslaw."

"_Coulson_."

"Whatever."

"Look, miss—"

"Please, call me _Rose_." Cue another charming, flirty smile. _C'mon dude! Just fucking get Coulson's lazy ass out here so I can give him a piece of my mind! _She thought impatiently in her head.

Apparently, the Agent ignored that request of hers as he responded irritably, "Please, miss. I'm sorry, but I do not have all night—"

"Neither do I." Rose cut in, her own patience wearing thin. "And right now – you are clearly wasting both of our time, so do yourself a favor, grow a pair, and get your little ass in there and go fetch me Coulson before I go get him myself." It was an attempt for a threat. Although – the Agent did not appear to be intimidated like she wanted him to be. Rather, he looked more _annoyed_ than intimidated.

"If you even attempt carrying that threat out – I'll call security and have them personally escort you out."

"Ooh." Her tone was mocking. "So scary. What are they gonna do – escort me out then throw in the dumpster like a cannonball? Actually – that would be pretty cool."

"If you don't leave in the next ten seconds, I'll see to it that our security takes _good_ care of you."

"No, no, no – I believe you got that backwards; you see, if you call security and try to kick me out of here, I'll make sure that I'll take _painful_ care of those poor security fools." Her sweet and innocent grin was instantly replaced with a frown as she stepped up and gripped the Agent's shirt harshly and spoke in a poisonous tone, "Now – I suggest you stop acting like a fool and go get your supervisor and tell him that _Miss Selvig_ is here to see him. I'm not taking rain check anytime soon."

One of the other Agents who saw this physical threat prepared to take her down but the Agent she was gripping only gave the other Agent a hand gesture to halt him. He just looked at Rose with a slightly impressed look and told the other Agent, "Please, Wilson," he addressed the Agent. "Do us a favor and fetch Coulson; it appears he has a very _pissed-off_ visitor."

"Freakin' right, I am pissed-off." Rose said lowly in her throat as the other Agent reluctantly went off to find their boss. With a sigh, Rose released the man's shirt and took a few steps back, crossing her arms as she waited patiently for Coulson to show up. And he did a moment later.

With a fatigued smile on his face, he said to her, "Good Evening, Miss Selvig. What a _pleasant_ surprise." But his tone clearly suggested that this surprise wasn't pleasant, at all.

"Surprise, yes. Pleasant, no."

.

.

.

Interrupting Coulson and the strange blonde man, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent cautiously stepped into the brightly lit-up room, alerting Coulson, "Sir, it appears that you have a visitor."

Never prying his eyes away from Thor, Coulson replied, "Not now."

"Sir, let me rephrase that; you have a very pissed-off visitor." The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent responded in a sardonic tone.

With an exasperated sigh, Coulson asked him, "Would this pissed-off visitor appear to be Miss Selvig?" This made Thor look up with hope – hopeful that it was them to come for his rescue.

"It would appear so, sir." The Agent confirmed with a brief nod.

Coulson caved, "Very well." Then he turned to Thor and with a strict tone, he said, "Stay put. I'll be back with you shortly." When Thor lowered his head and didn't respond, the Agent and Coulson left the room, leaving the blonde God alone, or so he _thought_ he was…

"I thought he'd never leave."

Startled – Thor shot his head up and widened his eyes – stunned to see a very familiar person standing in front of him, wearing nicely-tailored suit and a solemn expression written on his pale face and green eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Loki." Thor said, shocked and relieved, all at once. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you." Was Loki's brief and quiet explanation. So many questions were roaming through Thor's head.

"What happened? Tell me! Is it _Jotunheim_? Let me explain to—"

"Father is dead."

"_What_?"

.

.

.

"Miss Selvig, you're meaning to tell me that the big man in there is a _doctor_?" asked Coulson, disbelievingly after Rose told him her sympathetic fake story of how he's a trained doctor and Jane dumped him and he basically went banana nuts. It wasn't convincing enough but Rose didn't really know what to exactly say.

"That's _exactly_ what I'm meaning to tell you." Rose lied. During her early years – she's trained herself to be a skillful liar. Most of the time, people would fall for her façade. The only people in her life who could tell she was lying was her father and Jane. Only because they know her unfortunately way too well.

"Huh. _Interesting_. Then, why do I have the strangest feeling that you're not being honest with me, therefor proving that you are nothing but an immature kid."

"Whoa, Coleslaw – _hold the phone_! Okay, first of all, I am being _perfectly_ honest with you." _Such a lie_. "Second of all, I may be a kid. And I'm also a goofball. And a wing nut. And a Knucklehead McSpazatron! But most of all, I'm a Goofy Goober."

"Did you just quote _Spongebob_?"

"Fuck yeah, I did."

"That's actually pretty cool." Coulson grinned.

"I know right?" Rose also grinned.

"I'm still not releasing him." Coulson's grin immediately dropped. As did Rose's as a completely expression of disbelief was written all over her features.

"_What_? Oh! C'mon! I just made a little speech about me being a Goofy Goober and yet you absolutely ignore that and just pretend like none of this ever happened. For a moment, I thought we were actually conversing like friends…"

"Go home, Rose."

"Oh, so now we're on first-name basis?"

"I repeat, Miss Selvig. Go home. And while you're at it; might want to take a shower. You look terrible. Like really bad."

"Gee." Rose's tone was dry and sarcastic. "That compliment really just makes my day."

"I'm glad." Coulson's tone was equally as sarcastic.

"Good."

"Great."

"Fine."

"_Fine_."

Rose was still standing outside with her arms crossed and looking up at Coulson expectantly. He still hasn't moved – and he was watching her intently, probably prepared to prevent her from doing anything stupid.

"Stripper dude mentioned something about a hammer." Rose spoke up again, not signaling jokingly, but sounding quite serious. She remembered earlier when Thor was mentioning something about the _Mjolnir_.

"_Stripper dude_?" Coulson asked, confusion written all over his face. "I thought you said he was a doctor."

"He's very experimental in his careers; likes to spice things up a bit. It's in his nature." Rose explained, smoothly, every lie flowing through her mouth courteously. When Coulson only gave her an unreadable look, Rose asked, "So, how about that hammer, Coleslaw?"

.

.

.

"Father is dead."

"_What_?"

On the outside – Loki remained gravely as possible. On the inside – he was smirking successfully. As long as that oaf of his brother resided here in this god awful realm, Loki's plan will flow by smoothly.

"Your banishment, the threat of a new war; it was too much for him to bear." The negative implications of Loki's words dawned on his older brother. Thor realized something dreadful that he never thought of – _it was all his fault_. Loki dared looked into his brother's eyes, consolingly. Tears were pricking at the corners of the blonde God's eyes, but he refused to let them stray down his cheeks.

"You mustn't blame yourself." Loki continued, looking down at him with an unreadable expression. "I know that you loved him. I tried to tell him so – but he wouldn't listen." Thor remained silent, only staring down at the white tiled floor, too ashamed to even look his younger brother in the eyes.

Loki said, almost in a mocking way, yet Thor didn't seem to notice, "It was cruel to put the hammer within your reach, knowing you could never lift it." Thor stared ahead, falling into a deeper abyss. Almost quietly, Loki continued, "The burden of the throne has fallen to me now." This specific sentence made Thor look up with hope shining in his blue eyes. He mentally begged his brother.

"Can I come home?"

"The truce with Jotunheim is conditional upon your exile."

"But couldn't we find a way to—"

"Mother has forbidden your return." Those dreadful five words was enough to make Thor bow his head down in shame. In a coolly tone, Loki fare welled, "This is goodbye, brother. I'm so sorry." Clear tears now streaming down his face, Thor had the courage to look up at his solemn brother and apologize.

"No. I'm sorry, Loki. Thank you for coming here."

"Nothing could have stopped me." Loki said with a tiny smirk before, "Fare well, brother."

"Good-bye." Thor whispered in despair as he was left alone in the room again.

.

.

.

"For the last time, Miss Selvig! Don't touch the hammer!" Coulson was fuming beyond this point as he stared at the woman who was pushing his buttons to the extreme.

"Touch." Rose had a sneaky grin on her face as she poked the hammer again. Coulson was pretty sure his eye was twitching in annoyance at this point.

"Okay, I need a break. Miss Selvig, stay here while I go check up on your _stripper_ friend. And once again – _don't touch the hammer_! Are we clear?"

"Perfectly clear." She said with a dramatic sigh. Messing with Coleslaw was just too funny for words. Heck, he might be Rose's favorite person to tease, besides Jane, who is such a nerd and quite proud of it, by the way.

"Oi. _I need a drink after this_…" Coulson mumbled as he left Rose alone with the hammer. Well – she wasn't completely alone. There were Agent workers all around the base unit working but they didn't seem to be paying attention to her.

With a sly grin, she slowly approached the hammer, tilting her head to look at it from an angle. "Why, hello there. _Aren't you a sexy-looking hammer_?" She grinned at it.

She scoffed, thinking about how ridiculous it was that Coulson left her alone with the hammer, telling her specifically not to touch it when really, it only made her want to touch even more. Observing the hammer-thingy more closely, it looked like the hammer from the stories she read as a child. _Thor_. Pfft. Please. Stripper dude may have looked like Thor, but there's just no way in hell…

As she peered more closely at the _Mjolnir_, Rose noticed that it was abnormally large than other hammers. Casually glancing both ways to make sure nobody was watching, she let a tiny smile slip on her face as she reached to grab the hilt of the huge hammer. With all her strength – she began to pull on the hammer, finding that it wouldn't budge.

"Playing hard to get, huh?" Rose asked the hammer in an amused voice and once again tried to lift the hammer from the rock.

Only to find that something wasn't right when _something_ or _someone_ placed its hand on top of her hand that was still resting on the hilt of the hammer…

She shrieked and jumped back in shock when she felt _something_ actually touch her fuckin' hand. And that _something_ felt incredibly cold. And real… Rose could've sworn she felt an actual _hand_ touch hers… Rose looked around her and realized that she was the only one near the hammer. Unless if someone was playing a trick on her. No. That couldn't be. She would have seen them and if she did, she would kick their ass. It dawned on her that something actually put its force on her…

Holy. Shit.

"Okay. Sorry, Thor-stripper dude, whoever you are… _Fuck this shit_! I'm out of here!" Completely freaked out, she took off running from the base unit and exited out into the cold air of the night. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents gave her questionable looks as she practically ran from the area, her mind still reeling over what that thing was. Was it a ghost? No. It couldn't have been. _You can't feel ghosts, right?_

Whatever that was, it felt like flesh. Like someone was actually standing there right beside her and decided to scare the living shit out of her by placing its hand on hers. Rose shuddered at that thought. Maybe she was delusional and out of her mind. _That may have been a possibility_…

Walking past some of the Agents, she noticed the familiar Assassin guy known as _Barton_. She nodded to him as she walked past, "Nice bow and arrows." Barton, in return, gave her an odd look but remained polite.

"Thank you."

.

.

.

Realizing that Rose lost her cell phone somewhere, she had no choice but to walk herself home through the dark desert. As soon as she would get home – she was going to award herself with a nice warm shower to clean all the mud off from her.

She crossed her arms and huddled herself as she walked alone through the creepy, darkened desert area.

"Okay, this is not creepy." Rose muttered to herself, somewhat sarcastically as she trailed deeper and deeper through the suppressing desert. "God. Janey is gonna be so pissed when she finds out that I sort of left her future boyfriend back there." She talked to herself out-loud, trying to ease her nerves. Rose was never really fond of being alone or in the dark. "Eh. She'll get over herself. It's not like she and Thor were gonna get together anyway. That would be weird – yet cute. Yet weird. Oh – who am I kidding? They would look perfect together. It's like they were destined to be together or some shit like that…"

The wind began to pick up and howl, resulting in chills crawling up and down Rose's spine. She didn't know why but she had a weird feeling that she _wasn't_ alone out here in the desert…

Trying to be brave, Rose continued treading through the desert, talking to herself, "Thor and Jane, I dig that. Thane… I ship that. Hell, maybe those two should get together – they are both hot yet boring… they are perfect for each other!"

Suddenly, Rose heard a bitter yet amused _laugh_ from behind her. Rose was pretty sure she jumped ten feet into the air. Spinning around faster than a speeding bullet, she turned to find that there was nothing nor no one behind her. But she could've sworn…

"Who's out there?" she called out hesitantly. Typical. How cliché of her to say that. Great. Now, she's gonna get hacked up like one of those dumb bitches in horror films. "Whoever you are, whoever is out there, fucking with me? I swear – _I will go Karate Kid Jaden Smith style on your ass_!" There was no reply, just the bitter cold wind of the night howling in an eerie pace. "Seriously, whoever is out there, I can surely promise that you will regret messing with me. Trust me, I have a mean right hook."

"_Trust me_, I sincerely doubt that a petty little girl like you could ever take down a man like myself, foolish girl."

Rose gasped and jumped from utter surprise when she turned around, only to smack right into a firm, hard chest. _She was right; Rose wasn't alone after all…_

_._

_._

_._


	8. Another Drink?

**Only Human**

**Chapter Eight: Another Drink?**

.

.

.

A startled gasp left Rose's mouth after she accidentally turned around and bumped into a firm, solid chest. Her body froze. Fear coursed throughout her body. She _hated_ the feeling of fearing. The horrible feeling itself made her feel as if she was weak. _Weakness_ and _fear_ were not in her nature.

Ever so slowly – she dared to dart her terrified eyes up. She noticed that whoever this was – it seemed to be the figure of a man – a very _tall_ man – he was at least 6'2. Much taller than Rose's 5'7 height. In the darkness surrounding them – moonlight was showering above, illuminating the figure of the man.

Studying, she happened to notice that this man appeared to be wearing some sort of a crisp business-suit. Her eyes slowly traveled upwards. Blue eyes met green ones.

Whoever this was – she realized that his emerald eyes were actually quite breathtaking.

He appeared to have a more lean build than stripper dude's bulky body. And his features were unusually striking – Rose had to admit, he was actually kind of good-looking dude. His face was pale in the moonlight and his shock of ink-black hair that was slicked back caught her eye.

The man standing in front of her seemed, observing the fact that Rose was indeed checking him out. A tiny smirk lifted at the corner of his mouth.

But the more important question Rose had to ask herself was… _what the hell was he doing out here_?

"I significantly apologize if I have frightened you." _Was that an English accent?_ His voice sounded melodic and pleasant, but the tone behind it didn't sound sorry at all. It was as if he deliberately did scare her.

Rose – seeming to forgot that she was even breathing because she was so shocked at the moment – managed to breathe again as she took a few steps back to put some space between her and the strange man. Whoever he was – she sensed – he seemed to pose a nasty threat. And she didn't like that.

Rose raised a doubtful eyebrow at the man before her as she replied in a breathless voice, "I'm pretty sure you did more than frighten me; you scared the fucking shit outta me!"

The man scrutinized her thoroughly – reading her like a book. His intense stare made her extremely nervous. Tense. Wondering what he was going to do next. Possibly hurt her? Or worse? She didn't want to picture the worst.

Finally – after a moment of heavy silence – he replied, methodically amused, "Such _colorful_ words, my dear. Hasn't your mother ever taught you the etiquette of being a proper lady?" His tone was rather curious and light-hearted – as if he was having a normal, everyday conversation with her.

Rose looked at him strangely before feeling a slight pang inside after hearing him mention '_mother'_. She very greatly remembered her mother. And it upset her every day ever since her mother's murder from New York.

Realizing she was standing there, gazing down at her feet like an idiot, she looked back up to the stranger and responded in a snarky tone with a sarcastic twist, "Wake up, dude. It's the twenty-first century. I'm pretty sure nobody even uses the word '_etiquette'_ anymore."

Much to her surprise, he let out a musical laugh before saying, "If what you speak of is true, then your Midgardian customs are quite strange, if I do say so myself." He was making her feel uncomfortable again by staring down at her with the analyzing gaze of a hawk.

Trying not to appear intimidated by him, Rose asked in a small voice, "_Midgardian_?"

Instead of informing her of what he meant by the last sentence, he skillfully changed the subject, "I absolutely hate to inquire into someone's business that is not of my own, but I'm exceptionally curious as to how exactly you seem to know Thor." He started to circle her gracefully, each step deadly– much like a prey would. Rose watched his every move. Whoever this man was – he was making her feel uneasy and it seemed like he was actually _enjoying_ making her apprehensive.

Rose narrowed her eyes at the man as she questioned suspiciously, "Thor? What do you know of Thor?" _Who is this weird, creepy freak?_ She thought.

A twisted smirk elevated as he replied, "Oh no, dearie. I'm afraid I asked you first. Don't you think it's terribly rude of you to answer my question with a question?"

"No, I don't think it's rude of me to answer your question with a question. More importantly speaking, I'm generally curious as to why you're in the middle of the desert at night, wearing a business-suit, waiting in the shadows, waiting to scare me, then creepily question me of how I know Thor. Don't _you_ think that's a little bit strange?"

"I've been quite familiar with the word '_strange'_ all my life. More literally speaking, I've been numerously associated with that word and been called upon it many times in my existence. So – as an answer to your pointless question – no; I don't find it strange for me to be lurking upon you in the shadows and interrogate important information that I seek."

Chills were crawling up and down her spine as he spoke so smoothly, so emotional, pained. She couldn't help but stare at him during his entire speech.

Finally, she was able to find her voice, "Why would knowing Thor be considered _important information _to you?"

"Is that really any of your business, love?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, dickhead."

He laughed, making her feel uncomfortable again, "My, my, aren't you a cautious little thing? How _delightful_." Sarcasm was added in the last sentence. Rose stood her ground as the man continued to slowly pace before gradually advancing on her, making her take a few alert steps back. Slowly – trying to remain neutral, she dug her hand into her back pocket.

Then he spoke so darkly that almost made her wet herself, "You would be wise not to speak to me in such an unbecoming manner, my dear." She finally found what she was looking for as the strange man was standing within a few feet away.

"Believe me, I am capable of things _far_ worse than you can imagine." He said, his voice laced with fatality.

"_Believe me_; that makes two of us." She bravely replied as she whipped out her miniature can of pepper-spray that her father had given to her as a Christmas present to ward off creepy people in situations like this. _Never thought I'd say this, but thank you daddy!_ Rose thought.

Before the man could question what was that strange-looking can in her hand, she demonstrated by spraying him right across his beautiful eyes. Immediately – that apparently worked as he bent over, groaning deeply in pain as he rubbed his eyes that felt like they were on fire. Rose suppressed a laugh at the sight. _Stupid creepy weirdo thinks he has the upper-hand in this situation, huh? We'll see about that._

As he was distracted with the burning substance in his eyes – Rose took the moment to deliver a swift kick to his groin. Surprisingly, the man collapsed to his knees, clutching his lower regions as if he's never experienced so much pain in his life. Without sparing a moment, she also transported a knee to the face, completely knocking him down on the sand. A smirk spread across her face.

"So much for your bad-boy façade." Rose scoffed, standing over him. Big mistake.

He retaliated harshly by kicking her legs out from under, sending her down on her back with a loud yelp escaping from her mouth. Her body screamed with pain as she lain helplessly on the sand. The man let out a pained yet dark laugh as he stood on his knees and loomed over her, strands of his hair hanging in his face. Rose tried to defend herself again by punching his arrogant face, but he surprised her by catching her fist in an iron grip. She winced from the pressure he put into her hand. A feral grin spread on his face.

"So much for that cocky attitude of yours. It should be only used well if you make success in a situation like this. But since you failed, there's no use for it, unwise girl."

"At least I attempted and partially successfully kicked your sorry ass. So, I guess that cocky attitude counts for something."

"Not for long." Suddenly, they both heard something. Besides their heavy labored breaths. It sounded like an oncoming vehicle. Faint headlights could be seen approaching, illuminating the desert sand. Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

The man released a growl of annoyance before turning down to look at his victim with a smirk, "It appears our time has been unfortunately cut short. Until we meet again next time, Miss Selvig. I will immensely enjoy our following interaction together soon. Fare well, beautiful."

Then, all of a sudden, he disappeared completely away from her – as if he just evaporated into thin air. Eyes widened, Rose released a breath she had been holding as she sat up and frantically looked around her.

"Holy shit." She cursed, wondering how in the hell he did that.

"Rose! There you are!" She heard a familiar voice from behind her. Rose spun around and unconstrained a gasp of relief when she realized it was just Jane. Rose didn't even get a chance to speak as Jane frantically said, "I know you said to go back and I did, but after realizing that I couldn't leave you alone out there, I got back in the van, went out, and came back here looking for you. Oh God – I was so, so worried!"

She pulled Rose into a hug. Rose weakly hugged back – still traumatized over what happened. _Seriously, who was that fuckin' guy? He was so mean!_ She didn't even get the weirdo's name.

After Jane pulled away, she realized there was something wrong.

"Rose, are you all right?"

She hesitated before saying in a definite voice, "I need a drink."

.

.

.

"So – you're meaning to tell me that a creepy _sexy beast_ attacked you while you were alone in the desert?" Jane asked skeptically. Rose only responded by downing another shot. She was in serious need of alcohol after dealing with that freakazoid. After picking up an abnormal Rose, Jane took them to the local bar in town. Rose finished telling her bizarre story to Jane while downing several shots of tequila.

"That's exactly what happened, Janey." Was Rose's slightly slurred response. Jane stared at her friend, doubtfully. She hated to disagree with her on a certain level – but even this was a little too bizarre.

"And so once I miraculously showed up to your rescue, he just… _disappeared_?"

"Yep. It was actually pretty cool, to be honest. Only I was scared shitless at the time. I mean – literally, I think I almost shit my pants. This dude – whoever he was – was hella freaky. I swear – I thought he was going to turn into some fuckin' vampire and eat me or something."

"Maybe I should wait to hear this story when you're _sobered_ up."

"I shit you not, Janey. It's true. I know, I may be drunk as fuck right now—"

"Yeah, you are drunk as… you know what you said. And I can obviously tell because you cuss a lot more when you're drunk and you tend to exaggerate more."

"… No, I don't…"

"… Yeah, you do…"

"Whatever. Here. Take a shot." Rose sloppily passed her a tequila shot-glass. Then with a pout, she said to Jane, "It's not fun getting drunk alone while you're sober. C'mon. Down it, beotch." Jane shot her a disproving look.

"You do realize that one of us has to drive us home safely."

"No worries. Just leave that all to me. Remember what Darcy said? Rose got them moves like Jagger."

"You are such a loser."

"Now, that's just offensive, homie."

"_Homie_?"

"It's gangster for '_friend'_."

"Damn it, I shouldn't have brought you here."

"What are you talking about? You should be blessed that you brought me here. Now, if you would only take a few shots, we can go wild and crazy just for old times' sake."

"I've matured."

"Which is exactly why you need to take a break from being mature and just release your inner slut. Unless if you're scared, that is."

"I'm not scared." Jane insisted.

"Then prove yourself." Rose influenced, pushing a shot-glass towards her friend. Jane stared at it for a moment, seeming to be reconsidering before she astonishingly surprised Rose by snatching it and downing it in one go. Her face briefly contorted from the strong liquor.

Rose clapped happily, "My sorority babe is back."

Swallowing another shot, Jane replied, "Oh, college. The best yet worst years of my life. I don't think I would've survived college if you weren't there."

"Oh, enough of that sappy shit, and let's get white girl wasted and reminiscence some shit!" A drunken Rose proposed, holding up a new shot of vodka.

Jane repeated the action by holding it up, "Ditto. I'm not drunk enough to start cussing like a sailor." With that, they clinked their drinks.

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.

.

About seven shots later, both women were doubling over laughing. Some people in the bar were giving them weird looks as they cracked up in obnoxious laughter.

"Remember that one time when I triple-dog dared you to strip down in nothing but your bra and panties and run through the sprinklers outside of Tommy Jones' house?" asked a completely wasted Rose, laughing so much to the point where she was crying.

"And then his dad woke up and threatened to call the police on me." Jane finished the story with a drunken laugh.

"Now, let's not forget the time you flirted with that cop when we ended up getting arrested freshman year of college." Rose recalled.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but those were definitely good times."

"HOLY SHIT!"

"Is Jesus here?"

"No, you twat. Look behind you."

"_What_? Is Bradley Cooper right behind me?"

"Think again."

"I can't think. I'm too intoxicated."

"Even when you're drunk, you still talk like a freakin' old person."

"… What…?" Jane looked adorably confused.

With an exaggerated sigh, Rose grabbed Jane's head and turned it. There, sitting down at the far end of the bar was Dr. Selvig and stripper dude. Jane gasped, excitedly.

"It's our friends!" she clapped happily. "Should we go say hi?"

"Ew. No." Rose scrunched her face up in revulsion. "Gross. Why would I want to go say hi to my dad when I'm all drunk and shit?"

"But Thor is over there."

"Oh, I see what's going on here." Rose said with a frown, as she sloppily crossed her arms. Jane looked innocently confused.

"What?"

"You'd rather jump his bones than hang out with me!" Rose accused, pointing a finger.

Jane looked guilty. "No, I don't…"

"You're a very a bad liar, Jane Foster."

"Oh! Gee! Would you look at the time?" Jane looked at her wrist that obviously didn't have a watch. "So sorry to end our hang-out sess but I really must be going. My Aunt Kris wants me to wash dishes! Bye-bye!"

"You don't even live with your Aunt Kris anymore!" But Jane already took off from her seat and ran off somewhere else. "Buddy!" Rose cried out before reluctantly getting up from her seat and going after her intoxicated best friend who just ran out the door into the darkness. "What a slut…" Rose mumbled as she trudged off to find her friend.

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After Selvig reluctantly saved Thor from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base unit in courtesy of Jane, he brought him to the local bar to have a drink.

Once they got there, he ordered them two large mugs of beer and two shots of whiskey, which Selvig dumped into their beer.

"Seems Darcy's a terrible intern, but a talented hacker." Selvig said.

"Thank you for what you've done." Thor's sentence was genuine. Selvig shot him a look that obviously meant _don't thank me_.

"I only did it for Jane."

Thor looked confused before he bluntly asked, "Are you in love with her?"

Selvig nearly choked in surprise before he laughed heartily and said, "Of course not! Jane's like a daughter to me. She and Rose practically grew up side-by-side so I guess you can consider them sisters, just not by blood. She was definitely always a lot more mature than my kid. Too bad I was stuck with the rebellious kid, too much like her mother."

"What happened to her mother?" Thor was curious.

Selvig hesitated as if this was a painful subject to talk about, "She was murdered. Many years ago. Rose had to have been at least five years of age…" Thor noticed a few tears prick in Selvig's eyes but they did not shed.

"I apologize if I sound too forward—"

"No, no. No need to apologize, mate. It doesn't hurt me as much now. Anyways, at the time, Jane's father and I were teaching at the New York University. Rose was just a kid." He let out a pained sigh. "Her mother, like every day, was transporting her to elementary school in the subway station. It was Rose's first day of kindergarten… Apparently, a couple of muggers tried assaulting my wife for her purse…" Thor watched him closely as Selvig continued in a sorrow tone, "Just like Rose, she was very stupid yet brave and defiant. Tried defending herself. Only to get herself shot as a result… Rose watched the entire thing…"

"That's terrible…" Thor frowned, thinking about how awful that must've been and how much it's affected Selvig and Rose.

"It is what it is." Selvig stiffly responded, looking down thoughtfully at his ale mug. "When that did happen, Rose fell under depression at such a young age. It really tore her up from the inside. Because of that, she spoke very little for at least a few years from that traumatic experience. When she turned in her teens, she changed. And not for the better. Started doing drugs. Partying. Having boys over when she wasn't supposed to. She put up a façade to hide her grief."

"I'm terribly sorry." Thor apologized, sincerely.

Selvig shook his head, attempting a weak smile. "It was a long time ago; everyone has moved on from their grief. It's better to keep looking forward than to grieve in the past."

Thor asked him curiously, "How did Jane and Rose meet?"

"Jane's father and I taught at a University together. We were close mates, him and I. When the time came that we both had children, Rose and Jane were inseparable ever since. Such a shame Jane's parents aren't around anymore. They were good people. Although, her father never listened."

"Neither did I," Thor admitted quietly, pondering over his own faults.

Selvig eyed him with interest. "I don't know if you're really delusional, and I really don't care at this point. I just care about Jane. And Rose. I've seen the way Jane looks at you. I'm also concerned for my daughter's safety and if you ever try anything—"

"I swear to you, I mean neither of them no harm." And it was true.

"Good. If that's the case, then I'll buy you one more drink, and you'll leave town tonight." Selvig said in a serious tone.

Thor looked at him for a long moment before nodding and taking a drink. He said in a thoughtful voice, "I had it all backwards. I had it all wrong."

Selvig watched him, keenly. _This was a different Thor than he's seen before_. "It's not a bad thing, finding out that you don't have all the answers. That's when you start asking the right questions."

"For the first time in my life, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Thor confessed.

"Anyone who's ever going to find their way in this world has to start by admitting they don't know where the hell they are." Selvig told him, softly.

Thor nodded considerately.

"Hey, I know you, man..." An intimidating drunk townie approached Thor, sizing him up. He was one of the Townie's from the diner earlier. And he was obviously trying to pick up a fight. "You were in the diner with those three hot girls." Thor didn't like where this was going and Selvig didn't either. "I wouldn't mind the little cute Rosie girl doing a little research on me." He laughed obnoxiously. Selvig clenched his fist.

"I have no quarrel with you. But she's a lady. You should be more respectful." Thor responded, surprisingly calmly.

"And you should shut the hell up, _princess_." Thor absolutely loathed that nickname. He remember that's what set him off when he and his brother and their friends went to confront _Laufey_, king of Jotunhiem. Selvig looked at Thor, concerned that he was possibly going to lose it. But much to his surprise, Thor remained unaffected from the drunk townie.

"I will not fight him." Thor declared.

"Then it'll be easy to kick your ass." The townie threatened, standing close to Thor.

Before the townie could advance on Thor, Selvig stepped up between the two men and said, "Gentlemen, please. Let's keep our heads." With that – Selvig surprisingly head-butted the townie, knocking him out cold on the floor. Woozy, Selvig managed to down the rest of his mug before hurling the empty glass aside, shattering it on the floor. Thor looked impressed.

"Another drink?" asked Selvig with a manic grin towards Thor.

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_To be continued..._

"_Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough_." - Oprah Winfrey

**Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! **


	9. Fallen Star

**A/N**: This is officially my first author's note. I never really put one up because I didn't really have the need to say anything – but I want to just say a quick thank you to everyone, and I mean everyone. Not just the reviewers; people have _favorited_ and _alerted_ this story!

This really amazes and motivates me every day to write for all of you, lovely readers! I guess that's really all I have to say, so kick back and enjoy the chapter :)

Only Human 

Chapter Nine: Fallen Star

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After Rose found Jane wondering off in town in her drunken state, she miraculously managed to get them both back to Jane's trailer safely. Though it took some time – because Jane was kind of stubborn when she was wasted. Well – she was stubborn even sober, but in her drunken state – let's just say that Rose wanted to punch her.

She managed to get Jane to dress in her comfy PJ's and chill out. Even in her intoxicated state, Rose was able to think properly and fix her and her best friend some toast and juice to absorb some of the alcohol that was running through their blood and veins.

It was within a few hours later that both Rose and Jane began to abstemious up a bit. They were still slightly tipsy but not as bad as a few hours back. The two best friends were relaxing on Jane's bed, lying side-by-side, and looking upwards to the white ceiling, both of them enveloped in comfortable silence.

After a moment, Jane said softly, reminiscing, "I miss this. Reminds me of our teenage years. Summertime. Just lying in bed together; not having any doubts or worries. That was the illusion of being a teen. Never thought that being on your own would be so hard."

"Not gonna lie, but I sometimes miss being a teenager. Despite all the stupid shit that I've thrown myself into. It was nice for a while when I had my dad doing things for me and not thinking about what life would be like out on my own. After college ended, I realized that I really was entering the real world on my own." Rose whispered. "It was scary. It still scares me sometimes. Anything could happen and it could cost my life within one split second."

"Rose," Jane said, softly. She turned on her side to face Rose. "Don't ever think like that. Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise. What happened to your mother on that day…" Jane paused, searching Rose's reaction, knowing that it was a touchy subject that Rose didn't like to talk about much. When she remained neutral, Jane continued softly, "Your fate won't end up like hers did. I won't allow it. You're a beautiful person, Rose. Inside and out. And I know that's the real reason why you left New York, the real reason why you never rode down the subway station ever again—"

"Can we not talk about this?" Rose interrupted, softly. She didn't want to think about that particular, dreadful memory. An apologetic expression swept over Jane's face.

"I'm sorry," she apologized feebly, realizing that she had taken it too far.

"It's okay," was all Rose could say. Everything fell into silence again. All Rose could do was just stare at the ceiling, painful memories trying to form images into her brain, but she wouldn't let them.

Disturbing them both, a loud bang was heard at the door. Glancing at each other warily, Rose quickly picked up a bat that she hid under the bed in case of emergencies like this. They usually didn't get visitors and if it were another S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent or that freaky dude Rose encountered earlier – she would be prepared.

Rose scrambled up from the bed with her baseball bat in hand, poised and ready. Jane was right behind her as she went for the door.

Rose held her baseball bat up and ready to strike as she kicked open the door – only to realize it was just Thor and her drunken father over his shoulder. She lowered her baseball bat in disappointment. Damn. She really wanted to bash someone's head in. Was that weird?

"Dr. Selvig!" Jane exclaimed in surprise. Rose and Jane both stepped out of the way as Thor came in through the trailer with a brilliant smile.

"What the hell? Is he drunk?" asked Rose, scratching her head in a confused gesture. Thor only laughed happily.

"He's fine. Just a tad bit drunk, nothing dangerous. Not injured, at all." He replied in that booming voice of his as he completely stepped into the tiny trailer, accidentally banging Selvig's head on the doorway. Selvig groaned as Thor apologized, "Sorry, my friend."

"What happened?" asked Jane, thoroughly confused as to why Thor was getting drunk with Selvig. Rose thought that to be extremely weird, but whatever.

"We drank. We fought. He made his ancestors proud."

"Oh God," Rose groaned. "Don't tell me he started a fight with one of the townies again."

"You'd be proud as well, Lady Rose." Thor grinned, making her roll her eyes.

"Put him on the bed." Jane ordered, directing the big man to place Rose's father on the bed they previously occupied. Thor moved through the small trailer carrying Selvig, like a bear lugging another bear, smashing into things along the way, until he finally sets Selvig down on Jane's bed. Rose has seen her father drunk on several occasions, but nothing bad like this. He was completely wasted. Selvig awakened groggily and looked up at Thor through bleary eyes.

"I still don't believe you're the God of Thunder." Selvig laughed.

"I've always hated Thunder." Rose grumbled, crossing her arms and taking a seat on one of the chairs in the corner of the trailer.

"But you ought to be." Rose heard Selvig continue as Thor patted him on the cheek. As her father drifted off to sleep, Thor turned back to Jane, who in return was looking at him in awe. Jane had to admit, but she was stunned by their somewhat friendship, impressed by Thor's tenderness. He turned back closely to her and Jane suddenly felt her cheeks growing warm.

Thor gestured around him as he asked her, "These are your chambers?"

Jane suddenly became self-conscious as she began to clean up the mess around her as Rose watched their awkward exchange.

"Well, it's more of a temporary living space, really. I don't usually have visitors in here." Jane said in a rush, as she cleaned up her empty bowl and box of cereal and hurriedly placed it in the spare cabinet. "Actually, I never have guests." She shyly smiled up at Thor.

Then Rose cleared her throat, catching their attention, "Janey. That's not where the dishes go, babe."

"Oh. Right." Embarrassed, Jane snatched the dirty dish from the cabinet and placed it in the sink where it belonged.

She turned to Thor and asked him softly, "Can we go outside?"

"Of course." He replied, his tone as equally soft as hers. Gently, he held out his hand and allowed his fingers to grasp Jane's tiny palm and lead them outside.

Not before Jane called out from the door, "I'll be back."

"No rush. Take your time." Rose whispered with a smile gracing her feminine features. As soon as the couple left, Rose took a peek out the window and grinned at the sight; Thor and Jane walking side-by-side, his hand never left her hand. She had to admit; they were cute.

With a stupid grin still plastered on her face, Rose turned away from the window and instead approached her sleeping dad on the end of the trailer. Gently, not to wake him up, she grabbed a blanket and spread it over his body. Making sure he'd be warm enough, Rose finished by planting a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Love you, dad. Please, don't ever leave me."

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On the roof of Smith Motors, Jane and Thor sat together on lawn chairs, sitting comfortably in front of a blazing fire enough to warm them. The sky was indeed beautiful that night; stars strewn across and lit up the atmosphere perfectly.

"I come up here sometimes when I can't sleep. Or when I'm trying to reconcile particle data. Or when Darcy or Rose is driving me crazy," said Jane in a thoughtful manner, "I come up here a lot, now that I think about it." Thor remained silent, listening to the sound of her lovely voice, while watching the different emotions crossing her beautiful face every time she talked. "I'm glad you're safe," Jane added and she meant it.

"You've been very kind." Thor said, gently with gratitude shining in his gorgeous eyes. "I've been far less grateful than you deserve."

"I also hit your with my car a couple a times. Not to mention also getting tased _and_ punched by my two friend. I guess you can say we're even." Jane said, laughing a bit at the memory.

Suddenly remembering something, Thor reached into his jacket and pulled out the familiar notebook that Jane recognized so well. He handed it back to a surprised Jane.

"I don't believe it." Extremely grateful, she gently retrieved the book from his hands and looked through the pages.

"It was all I could get back." He explained. "Not as much as I promised. I'm sorry."

"No, no, this is great!" Jane excitedly replied, flipping through the pages. "This means that I don't have to start from scratch anymore." Sincerely looking at Thor, she whispered, "Thank you." He only returned her smile, happy that he cheered her up. Until harsh realization struck her face. Thor noticed this as he gently pressed his hand to her knee.

"What's wrong?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D., whatever they are. They're never going to let this research see the light of day."

"You must do this. You must finish what you started."

"Why?"

"Because you're right. It's taken so many generations for your people to get to this point. You're nearly there. You just need someone to show you how close you really are."

Surprising her with his actions once again – Thor moved closer beside her, gently taking the notebook from her hands, turning to the page which bears the sketch of the Bifrost. Her breath caught in her throat, Jane watched this man amazed as he grabbed her pen, beginning to add in sketch, leading from one point to another in space. Jane watched, thoroughly intrigued.

"Look. Your ancestors called it magic. You call it science. I come from a place where they're one and the same thing." He explained in an engaging tone as he sketched out the branches of Yggdrasil. Jane continued to observe in amazement.

"What is it?" asked Jane.

"This is how my father explained it to me…" Thor replied, mysteriously before explaining in a tone that fascinated Jane more than before, "Your world is one of the Nine Realms of the Cosmos, linked to each other by the branches of Yggdrasil, the Worlds Tree. Now, you see it every day, without realizing. Images glimpsed through – what did you call it? – This Hubble telescope. So, the Nine realms…"

Jane gazed at him softly with a smile attached, never once fading as she allowed herself to listen to the calming, absorbing tone of his voice…

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Soon, Jane fell asleep onto the lawn chair as Thor continued gazing up at the beautiful sky scattered with brilliant stars. Glancing at her, he gently pulled the blanket up over her, so she would be warmer. A soft smile graced her lips as she slept peacefully while he gazed upon her.

Not a moment later, Thor heard approaching footsteps. It was Rose – her brown hair tied up in a messy pony-tail and wearing a checkered-plaid robe. For once, she looked peaceful and not crazy – as usual. She was carrying two cups of hot chocolate as she made her way over to Thor.

"Thank you," he thanked her softly as he gently took the mug from her. Rose couldn't help a little smirk as she sat on the edge of Jane's lawn chair while she peacefully slept.

"Just try not to smash the cup this time." She commented in a whisper. Thor chuckled lightly before peering down at the warm substance in the cup.

He asked confused, "Might I ask what this is?"

"Hot chocolate. They don't have that where you're from?" He only shook his head in reply. She added, "Wow. Then you clearly have been living under a rock."

Ignoring her last comment, Thor took a huge gulp to which Rose was about to tell him '_Be careful, it's hot' _but he only drank the entire thing in less than five seconds and beamed.

"This is delicious!"

"You're welcome." Rose responded, as she chuckled in amusement at the big man. "Look, before you sat anything else, I just want to get something off my chest. I guess I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, for acting like a semi bitch to you and calling you 'stripper dude' and stuff like that."

Thor looked at her gently and replied, "It is quite all right, Lady Rose. Truly, I thought you were being entertaining."

"Glad I sufficed well in that stage." Rose said, laughing quietly, making sure to not wake Jane up. Then she looked at Thor and said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Do you care for Jane?" asked Rose, looking him in eye, in a serious tone. Thor's heart skipped a beat upon hearing _her_ name. He glanced at the beautiful woman sleeping from behind Rose and a heart-warming smile spread across.

"I do." As an afterthought, he added quietly, "More now than I realize."

"Then you understand, as her best friend, that I care about her. And I always want the best for her. But if you ever _think_ about hurting her – _trust me_ – I'll hurt you way more than you'll ever hurt her. And I will do more than hurt you, I'll freakin' torture you. Got that?"

"My intentions are to never harm Jane. Never."

Rose stared at him for a moment, trying to depict anything on his face that falsified his claim on never harming Jane. When she was satisfied that his intentions were true, she relaxed and gave him a comfortable smile.

"I believe you."

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The next morning was a surprisingly pleasant morning. The sky was blue and beautiful as ever. Gorgeous weather and temperature.

Rose, unfortunately, woke up with a tiny hangover, but not as bad as she thought it would be – though her dad probably had it worst. He was completely out of it the previous night.

After taking a brief shower, she actually took the time to put makeup on and make herself look nicer and more presentable today. Usually, she didn't care about her appearance and never bothered to put on makeup or do her hair. But since, she was actually in a better mood than usual, she decided, "_What the hell_?"

Perhaps what made her happy was the pleasant conversation she had with stripper dude, _or Thor_, she reminded herself. Most of the night she talked with Thor about the most random things while Jane serenely slept the entire time. She talked about some of her favorite books to read, movies, interests, anything she could talk about while Thor only nodded and politely listened.

A few times, Rose had to explain to the big man what something was or elaborate on a certain subject. Rose decided that she liked talking to Thor. He was easy to talk too. And a surprisingly good listener. She never thought she'd say this, but she's glad she became friends with the man who they accidentally ran over that night.

After blow-drying her hair, she used her flat-iron to straighten her frizzy coils. Once her hair and makeup were done, she dressed into comfy clothes like jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt along with her Converse that she's kept for many years.

Dressed, she exited her trailer and went into Jane's lab, pausing in the doorway to look at the scene in front of her. Jane and Thor making breakfast; Darcy and her father at the kitchen table. It was like a little happy family cheesy moment. And Rose liked it.

Entering, she said, "_Good morning_," to everyone and they all smiled at her. After seating herself next to Darcy, Thor came to Rose with her plate in his hands. She grinned at him in surprise before saying, "Thank you!" He returned her smile and nodded politely.

"You're very welcome." Thor said, as he and Jane sat down at the table, as well.

It was a surprisingly lovely breakfast. Everyone talked and discussed while they ate. For once, Rose was actually quite happy. It's certainly been a long time that she's looked forward to hanging out with friends and family. She only wished she would be closer to everyone in her life after pushing them away.

After they all finished their meals, they worked together on washing dishes, cleaning the table as Jane explained her theory that Thor explained to her last night to Selvig.

"It's a beautiful theory, Jane." The older man said to her. "But you won't be able to convince the scientific community of any of it. Not without hard evidence."

Suddenly, there was knocking heard on their doors. Rose turned around to find something she definitely wasn't expecting to see. Accidentally, her glass of coffee slipped from her fingers as she, Selvig, Darcy, and Jane looked to find a beautiful woman and three men, all dressed in what appeared to be renaissance armor and clothing. They were all smiling and waving manically. Rose attempted a weak wave as she whispered, "Why am I waving at these strangers?"

Thor cried happily, "My friends!" Ecstatically, he raced over to them and greeted them as they walked in through the glass doors.

"I don't believe it…" Selvig whispered with wonder.

"Unbelievable…" Rose added, staring at them in amazement before she asked, "Who are they?"

The burly man of the three men stood up and announced in a proud voice, "Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Surely you've heard tales of Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing, and I, Volstagg the Svelte?" Selvig only looked pointedly at Volstagg's massive gut which was ironic since he was kind of big. Volstagg added in a grumble, "Well, perhaps I've put on a little more muscle since I was here last."

"That would have been a thousand years ago? Northern Europe?" Jane spoke up as Rose glanced at her in confusion. Was there anything that Jane didn't know about?

"Exactly! Those lovely herring people. They worshipped us!" Volstagg reminiscences, proudly. Thor grinned, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder as he acknowledged them all.

"My friends, I've never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come." Thor said, sadly.

"We're here to take you home." Fandral articulated to him, joyfully. Rose stole a glance at Jane and noticed the unhappy expression on her face.

"You know I can't. My father is dead because of me. I must remain in exile." As Thor said this, Rose and Jane looked at him; Rose in sympathy and Jane in compassion. The other Asgardians exchanged puzzled looks.

The beautiful dark-haired lady known as Sif, stepped up to Thor and softly informed him, "Thor… your father still lives."

All of sudden, before anyone else could mutter a word, they heard a dangerous rumbling in the distance coming from the desert. Everyone formed a line outside of Jane's lab as they stared at the dark chaos that was forming in the desert.

It appeared that the bifrost storm was bringing something else into the realm.

Rose asked worriedly to no one in particular, "Was somebody else coming?"

Almost as an answer to her concerned question, the bifrost tunnel exploded to the ground. From what it appeared to be, a giant robotic creature known as the '_Destroyer'_ landed down into the desert with a harsh collapse.

"You've got to be kidding me." Rose muttered as she stared at the Destroyer, almost amazed yet in fear. She didn't know what to feel. All she knew was this couldn't be too good. Obviously. She wondered why somebody would send out a Destroyer unless for destruction and chaos.

Townspeople began to fill the streets, staring at the thrilling fire fight in the distance. Thor and the Asgardians prepared for battle before he turned to Jane and ordered in a command, "Leave this town now. Get yourself and your friends to safety."

Jane looked at him apprehensively and asked, "What about you?" She certainly wasn't going to let him just get himself killed.

"I must stay and fight." He told her bravely as Lady Sif and the Warriors Three all gave him equally doubtful looks. He said to them in a confident and loyal tone, "I'm still a warrior, and I will fight by your side."

"You're but a mortal now. You'll get yourself killed!" Volstagg argued, concerned for his friend's safety.

"Or one of us, trying to protect you." Fandral added.

"The best thing you can do is get the mortals to safety and leave the battle to us." Sif suggested highly to Thor. As she said this, Thor looked at the townsfolk around them, all oblivious to the oncoming threat.

"You're right." He told her calmly which slightly perplexed Sif. _He's changed_, she realized. Before she could acknowledge Thor, he turned to Selvig, Jane, Rose, and Darcy and said to them, "Help me clear the streets. I'll let none of these people die this day."

Without further ado, they all complied. Hurriedly, Rose cleared the streets as quickly as she possibly could; loading confused townspeople into indoors, anywhere where it was safe. She rapidly also hurried in and out of the now burning pet shop, getting and carrying many puppies and kittens in cages, and loading them into a truck for safety.

When she turned around after doing all she could, she widened her eyes, realizing that the Destroyer was getting very close. And it looked even deadlier up close. Before she could acknowledge what happened, the Destroyer suddenly fired in front of Jane's precious laboratory, causing an explosion of glass covering them all and effectively knocking them off their feet.

While Thor helped Jane up, Rose screamed in horror when she realized that her father was lying amidst the nasty debris.

She sprinted towards him as she comprehended the fact that he was impaled in the stomach from a twisted piece of iron. Her father groaned in clear pain, his mind losing its conscious. Darkened blood started to seep harshly from his nasty wound. Rose knelt by his side, grabbing his hand, tears streaming down her face. Haunting images of her mother being shot inside her head. Thor hurried to her side. He was losing too much blood.

"Go! Leave me!" Selvig said to Rose, only concerned for her safety. Stubbornly, Rose shook her head as released sobs took control over her.

"No! No! Don't you dare say that! I'm not leaving you. Please, daddy. I need you. You can't leave me. You're supposed to be here. Not up there. Please! I can't bear the thought of losing you! I can't lose you either!" Rose sobbed as she held onto her father's hand for dear life, wretched sobs being released from her body.

Sympathy etching into his heart, Thor stared at Rose as she cried over her loving father. Suddenly, an idea sprang to his head. Luckily, Thor spotted his friend Hogun's pouch of healing stones lying in the middle of the street. He made a break for it, dodging through the flaming wreckage, then grabbed the pouch and races back. He opened the pouch to find the fragile stones crushed and useless. He poured the contents out in his hand.

Amidst the useless powder, he finally finds one stone still intact. Thor tossed the pouch aside, holding the stone over the end of the iron rod. Her eyes red with big alligator tears, Rose stared at him confused.

"What are you doing? What is that?" Rose couldn't even recognize her own voice; it was stricken with too much grief.

As the stone began to glow beautifully, Thor crushed it. Rose looked on, amazed, as the glowing powder falls upon the piece of iron that was pierced through her poor father's gut, dissolving it, heading downwards, until it reached Selvig's wound.

Miraculously, the powder healed his wound completely. Rose gasped in astonishment before looking at Thor as a whisper came upon her lips, "Thank you." And it was full of gratitude and she meant it. Thor could only give her a gentle nod in return before looking down the street, seeing his wounded friends still lying there, as Selvig sat up in utter surprise. He reached through the hole in his shirt to touch his healed flesh as Rose looked at him, joyful to see him all right.

"I'm really starting to like him." Selvig said with a wondrous smile. Rose only laughed in relief before reaching over and giving her father a hug before she realized that Thor was gone.

After Thor went over to Sif and the Warriors Three, Rose pulled her father up and Jane and Darcy approached them as they stood together, wondering what Thor was doing. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three advanced on the confused group and stood by them.

Rose scrunched her eyebrows in misperception when she realized that Thor was calmly walking down to face the Destroyer.

"What's he doing?" asked Jane, nervously. Rose gripped her best friend's arm gently as Jane stared after her man.

"Janey." Rose warned. She knew that if she let go of Jane's arm, she would race after Thor. And Rose wasn't bound to let that happen anytime soon. She almost lost her father, she didn't need to lose a best friend as well.

Anxiously, Rose watched the scene unfold between Thor and this Destroyer thing that was for some reason purposely appearing trying to kill him.

From the distance, she could faintly hear Thor talking to the frightening Destroyer, apparently trying to appease with it. Her heart drummed erratically in her chest as she gripped Jane's arm, wondering what was going to happen next.

Finally, Thor stood courageously in front of the Destroyer. Rose tensed, grasping Jane's arm firmly as she observed the exchange between them.

The Destroyer seemed to change its mind for a brief moment. Rose released a sigh of relief as the Destroyer appeased down and began to turn around, apparently changing its mind about wanting to kill Thor.

"Thank God," she whispered.

Big mistake.

As if God heard himself, the Destroyer abruptly turned around and swatted Thor with its enormous arm, sending Thor flying out.

Rose cringed as she heard the undeniable sound of bones cracking as his body landed in a crumpled, broken heap. Jane managed to tear her arm from Rose's iron grasp as she raced towards Thor.

Lady Sif clutched Rose's arm, sensing that she was about to run up to help Thor. Rose turned to Lady Sif and glanced at her. Lady Sif provided her a saddened look as Rose watched as Jane went off and knelt down over a bleeding Thor.

"I'm sorry, Janey." Rose whispered in sympathy as a tear slid down her cheek, "So sorry."


	10. It Is Over

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! I temporarily discontinued this story but recently my inspiration spiked up a bit so I'm back! This is not the last chapter, there will probably be one more chapter, if not two. It depends really. I hope you're all still with me. And I'm sorry if this is a sucky chapter, let me know if it is haha :D

Chapter Ten: It is Over

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"It's over," whispered Thor in despair as Jane knelt down next to him. He knew that all of this had to be over. _He_ won. His brother got what he wanted.

"No." Jane said, defiantly – she couldn't bear the terrifying thought of losing him. Tears sprang to her doe eyes as she gently caressed his beaten face, her soft fingers stroking him gently like a feather's touch. "It's not over." She quietly assured him, even though she knew it was useless.

"You're safe." He said, smiling gently in relief. And he truly meant it. All his intentions were since the beginning was to never harm her. Or her friends.

"_We're_ safe," she corrected, cupping his rough face in her delicate, shaky hands.

"It's over," he repeated softly, so softly that she could barely hear him. He inhaled deeply, finding it much more difficult to breathe. Jane's entire body shook with sobs.

Rose observed the scene before a fair distance amount away as she clung to her father's arm. This could not be happening. Not when things were actually, for once, good in her life. It was being ripped away from her, all over again. Tears shed down her cheeks. She knew that Thor wasn't going to make it. And just when she thought that Jane and Thor might actually get together.

Then – something magnificent happened. Suddenly, from afar, Rose heard a booming sound in the distance. Like something being ripped apart from rock. Whatever it was – it shot up into the air like a newly-designed rocket, leaving sand and smoke in its path. Eyes widened and jaw dropped open, Rose watched as the strange object whooshed into the air – creating a hauntingly beautiful aura into the once beautiful blue sky.

It seemed that the shooting object into the air seemed to have a different destination – as it was heading towards the dying man's direction. Right where Jane was kneeling.

Selvig was the first to react as he took off running for Jane to get her to safety. Lady Sif clutched Rose's arm in an iron grip, seizing her from going after them, knowing it wasn't a good idea. As soon as Selvig approached Jane and the beaten Thor, he pried her away from his body despite her frantic protests and led her away to safety.

Apprehensively – Rose examined as from what it appeared to be closer, _Mjolnir_ that Thor kept on mentioning. The soaring hammer flew down in their path until a hand rose up and caught it deftly – generating a blinding bolt of lightning. The explosion was massive, effectively knocking the Destroyer being hurled backwards, a cloud of dust enveloping the street. As the smoke cleared – Rose, Jane, Darcy, and Selvig all dropped their jaws in shock.

"No freakin' way," whispered Rose.

"Oh. My. God." Jane muttered.

Clad in his full battle armor, holding _Mjolnir_ in his hand, the God of Thunder smiled proudly as he kneeled down, bringing his hammer to the ground. Magnificently, lightning strikes the Destroyer, making it convulse. Swinging the hammer around, Thor leapt off his feet and straight into the air, effectively summoning gale force winds, forming an immense cyclone. Ugly, dark storm clouds gathered around the God of Thunder. Debris from the battle began to rise up into the murky sky. The Destroyer stood there – kept grounded due to its massive weight.

The terrifying Destroyer lifted its head up at the Thunder God, opening its faceplate, locking it in place, unleashing its punitive blast. Courageously, Thor dived downwards straight at it, with _Mjolnir_ before him. _Mjolnir_ collided with the Destroyer's fiery energy blast, overpowering it, pushing it back, and forcing it downwards at the Destroyer.

Thor jammed his hammer deep into the Destroyer's faceplate. The scorching and blistering energy within the creature built up and suddenly exploded within him, firing out of all of his openings.

Thor smashed the Destroyer to the ground in a tremendous heap, the blazing vigor within it extinguished forever. The dangerous twister slowly diffused away until beautiful clear sky was shown once again. Thor pulled _Mjolnir_ from its faceplate, walking away from its lifeless carcass. As he did, the other objects and debris pulled into the air by the gale winds drop down from the skies, around the Destroyer, burying it.

As if nothing happened, Thor sauntered casually over to Selvig, Jane, and Rose.

"So, is this how you normally look?" asked Jane, completely and obviously fascinated from him. Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes. After everything that's happened – that's all Jane has to say? _C'mon woman! Quit thinking with your ovaries!_

"More or less." Thor grinned, cockily which made Rose raise her eyebrows.

"Don't get too cocky," Rose warned playfully, crossing her arms, almost not believing that she actually _cried_ for this dude.

"Apologies, Lady Rose." He laughed before they all turned, realizing that Agent Coulson was standing in the distance, apparently witnessing the entire scene before him. The God of Thunder approached Coulson and said, "Know this, son of Coul." Rose bit her tongue from laughing out-loud. "You and I – we fight for the same cause – the protection of this world. From this day forward – count me as your ally." Then, Thor stepped next to Jane and said, "If you return the items you have taken from Jane Foster."

"_Stolen_," Jane protested.

"_Borrowed_," Coulson corrected. Both Jane and Rose shot him equal death-glare looks. Coulson quickly continued, "You'll get your equipment back. You're going to need it to continue your research –"Rose smiled happily as she shrugged her arm around Jane's shoulder, knowing for a fact that her friend was pleased to hear this. "— Which after today's events, S.H.I.E.L.D. would like to fully sponsor. If that's all right with you."

"Yes," Jane smiled in acknowledgement.

"Okay, wait a second, here." Rose spoke up, looking strangely at Sif and the Warriors Three. "How the hell can you speak our language?"

"Your language? Ha!" Volstagg laughed heartily before patting the mortal girl's shoulder. "Silly girl, you're speaking ours!"

"Okay then. I'll accept that as an answer." Rose mumbled.

Angling his head up towards the beautiful blue sky, Thor shouted, "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!" Rose and Jane share glances of confusion. When nothing happens, Thor looks to his friends with an expression of concern. He says, "He would open it if he could. I fear the worst."

"Then we're trapped here forever!" Volstagg exclaimed.

"Then I suppose we'd best start settling into our new lives." Fandral says as he turns to Darcy, a charm springing upon his handsome features. He flirts with her, "Are all Earth maidens as fair as you?" Darcy clearly enjoys the attention while Rose rolls her eyes and gags on the spot.

"No." Darcy replies, smiling.

"Heimdall!" Thor yelled again.

"After all of this is over, I'm going to need some serious therapy." Rose commented, crossing her arms as she observed the God of Thunder shouting things up at the sky.

"Get in line." Jane retorted as she too watched Thor very closely.

Miraculously, a bright aura appears up in the sky; the Bifrost. It explodes from the sky, creating a beautiful twister-like appearance. The mortals peer at the halo, completely amazed.

Fandral quickly turns to Darcy, "Sorry, my love. These things happen."

Darcy frowns as the handsome blonde Fandral goes to his other friends' side quickly. Out of mocking sympathy, Rose shrugs an arm around the younger girl's shoulder.

"Such a darn shame; he was really cute." Rose commented, Darcy's frown deepened.

As Lady Sif and Warriors Three go towards the Bifrost, Thor takes a brief moment with his beloved Jane; the one he fears he may never see again. Jane's heart thrums in a rapid pace as she realizes that this maybe their only last moment together.

Thor brings Jane closer to him and takes her hand, kissing it tenderly. Her breath hitches. "Whatever fate lies before me; you are part of it." Jane senses tears sprouting in her eyes and she can't hold it in anymore as she leans up and kisses the God of Thunder passionately as everyone politely looks away to give them a moment.

"My little Jane," Rose says, tears almost brimming in her eyes. "She grows up so fast."

As Jane and Thor part their little kiss, he politely inclines a nod to everyone before joining his friends into the Bifrost. Amazingly, they all disappear within a zoom and the Bifrost travels up towards the sky and back into their universe.

Rose can feel Jane's worriedness come across her in waves. She steps up next to Jane and slings a comforting arm around her.

She says, "This isn't goodbye, Jane. You'll see him again… someday." Rose winced at the last word as Jane shot her a look that clearly meant '_that didn't make me feel better at all, Rose_!' "Don't look at me like that, Jane, or I'll slap you silly."

.

.

.

"I swear to you, mother, they will pay for what they've done today. I will end the _Jotun_ threat, now and forever!" Loki insists to his mother after successfully destroying Laufey from killing Odin. Loki looks to his father that is still in his sleep. "And I will make you proud."

Loki savors the moment, but it's short-lived, as Thor bursts in. He's thrown by the scene before him –Odin safe, Laufey and two _Jotuns_ dead, Frigga regarding Loki with pride and respect. Stunned and delighted to see Thor, Frigga beams.

"Thor!" she cries from enjoyment. She moves to Thor and hugs him, but Thor's eyes remain fixed on his brother. Loki looks at _Mjolnir_ in his brother's hand.

"Found its way back to you, did it?" asked Loki, not too very happy.

"No, thanks to you." Thor spits out, narrowing his eyes at his _brother_. Frigga picks up on the tension building between her sons. "Why don't you tell her? How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends? To kill me?"

Frigga looks to Loki, alarmed and confused, "What?"

"It must have been enforcing Father's last command." Loki says indifferently.

"You're a talented liar, brother. Always have been." The God of Thunder snarls.

"It's good to have you back." Loki smiles before saying dead-seriously, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to destroy Jotunheim."

The God of Mischief suddenly raises _Gungnir_, fires it point-blank at Thor. Thor goes flying backwards, smashing through the chamber walls. He plummets from the palace and plunges down into the reflecting waters below.

With Thor out of his sight, Loki speeds on horseback down the Rainbow Bridge, then quickly dismounts and enters the Observatory. Once inside, Loki operates the Observatory's controls. The massive turret spins, points.

Thor awakens to the sound of the Bifrost. He stands, sees the Observatory firing the Bifrost energy into space. He looks to where the Bifrost is aimed. Thor soars on the winds above the Rainbow Bridge, the Bifrost energy roaring through Bridge, feeding into the Observatory. He lands before the Observatory's huge doorway. Thor enters, shields his eyes from the brilliant light of the Bifrost energy blasting towards Jotunheim. He looks over to the controls, sees that they're frozen in an enormous block of ice. Loki stands atop it.

"All these years, and no one's ever dared to use it as a weapon." Loki says coldly.

Thor hurries to the ice, raises his hammer to smash through it to get to the controls frozen within. Before he can, Loki fires _Gungnir_. The blast hits the ice in front of Thor, attacking him back across the floor. Loki steps down from the ice as Thor staggers to his feet.

"You can't stop it. The Bifrost will build until it rips Jotunheim apart."

"Why have you done this?"

"To do what Father never could. To destroy that race of monsters. When he awakens, he'll see the wisdom of what I've done."

Thor looks at Loki, disbelief written all over his face.

"He won't! You can't kill an entire race!"

"Why not?" Loki laughs, almost too sinisterly. Thor frowns at his brother's new change of attitude. "What is this newfound love for the Frost Giants? You, who would have killed them all with your bare hands."

"I've changed." Thor says firmly.

"So have I." Loki claims before suddenly hitting Thor across the face with _Gungnir_. "Now, fight me." He swings _Gungnir_ at Thor again. Thor catches it in his hand, rears back his hammer as if ready to return the blow, but instead takes to the air and flies past Loki, back towards the frozen controls. Loki spins around, aims _Gungnir_, and fires a blast which immobilizes Thor in the air. He hangs there, suspended.

"Is the throne really worth what you've done? What you would become?" asks Thor.

"I never wanted the throne. I only wanted to be your equal. _Now fight me_!" With a gesture of _Gungnir_, he flings Thor to the ground. Thor rises to his feet, turns to Loki.

"I will not fight you, brother!"

"I'm not your brother; I never was."

"Loki, this is madness."

"Is it madness, Thor… Is it?" Loki can feel unshed tears brimming in his eyes, all the pain he's been suffering throughout the years of living as his brother's shadow. "Tell me, _brother_," he sneers, "What happened on Earth that turned you so soft?" Thor frowns and looks at him. "Don't tell me it was those mortals; more specially that woman!"

Thor froze like the ice.

Loki grinned, realizing he got him.

"Oh, it was. Well, let me tell you something, did you know that I've already paid a little visit to one of your woman's friends, what was that pretty little mortal's name again… Rose, was it not?"

"Loki," Thor warned.

His brother's eyes glinted mischievously.

"I must say, brother. She was certainly _interesting_. Maybe when we're finished here, I should pay her another visit; perhaps instead I'll visit that _Jane_ woman. Which would you prefer, brother?"

That did it. Loki and Thor rush at each other. They and their weapons collide. The two battle – Loki unleashing years of pent-up rage and jealousy, Thor having no choice but to defend himself. The two Gods battle savagely.

Loki fires _Gungnir_, sending Thor sliding across the floor and knocking _Mjolnir_ from his hand. The hammer flies into the Bifrost towards Jotunheim. Thor raises his hand towards his hammer, tries to summon it back to him, to keep it in this Realm, but the Bifrost is too powerful. _Mjolnir_ disappears into the maelstrom as Thor himself slides towards the Bifrost.

"If you care so much for the _Jotuns_, then die with them." Loki snarls.

The Bifrost stretches every cell of Thor's body, trying to drag him away. He's nearly swallowed by the vortex, when he concentrates, mustering his will. He reaches out his hand towards the Bifrost. _Mjolnir_ flies back through the maelstrom, into Thor's hand. The hammer pulls him free. Loki tries to fire off another blast at him, but Thor takes to the air, speeds towards his brother.

Thor and Loki come crashing through the Observatory dome and land hard, rolling across the Rainbow Bridge. As Thor gets to his feet, he sees Loki dangling off the Bridge's edge. Loki desperately begs for his brother to help him. Loki's fingers start to slip.

Thor reaches down to grab his brother's wrist, but his hand passes through Loki's. Just then, the real Loki materializes behind him. Thor whirls around as Loki stabs him in the chest with _Gungnir_. Loki lifts Thor into the air, impaled on the spear, and hurls him across the bridge.

Thor, bleeding, rises to his knees. Loki strides up behind him to finish him off, when Thor swing his hammer around. It passes through him. Instantly, another Loki appears next to him, Thor swings his hammer, but that too is an illusion. Loki after Loki appears, Thor futilely swinging at each one, never making contact. Thor falls back to his knees. The Loki's grin as their raises their spears, encircling him.

"I was always more clever than you," Loki gloats.

"Yet still not clever enough," Thor retorts.

With that, Thor raises his hammer, rising into the air, summoning lightning. A massive bolt strikes _Mjolnir_, then channels outwards, splitting up, striking each one of the Loki's. All of them dissipate into nothingness, save one – the real Loki – who's sent flying back across the Bridge, _Gungnir_ knocked from his grasp.

Thor steps over to his fallen brother, lying dazed on his back. Loki winces, prepares for the worst, when Thor steps away. Loki opens his eyes, tries to stand, but can't. He looks confused, then sees what the problem is – _Mjolnir_ rests atop his chest. Struggle as he may, Loki can't lift it off. He's pinned to the ground.

Thor looks about him desperately – at the Bifrost firing towards Jotunheim, gaining in strength, at the surge of energy moving through the Bridge. He's at a loss of what to do. Loki watches him smugly.

"Look at you, the Mighty Thor. With all your strength, what good does it do you now?"

Thor knows Loki's right. He's powerless to stop what's happening. He looks down at the Bridge beneath his feet, vibrating from the force and speed of the Bifrost energy feeding into the Observatory. Then he gets an idea.

He realizes what he must do and what he must sacrifice.

Thor extends his hand towards Loki, summoning _Mjolnir_. The hammer goes flying to his grasp. Loki looks confused. Thor raises _Mjolnir_ in the air. Clouds form above him, thunder rumbling. Lightning arcs off of his hammer, as he channels the power of the storm into it, then –

He strikes _Mjolnir_ down upon the Rainbow Bridge.

The blow is massive, causing a rumbling along the whole bridge, shaking the Observatory itself like an earthquake. A crack appears where the blow struck. Loki rises to his feet, shock written all over his features.

"What are you doing?" he cries.

Thor lifts the hammer again, brings it down harder. The crack grows bigger. The Bifrost energy starts to stream out from it. Loki thinks fast.

"If you destroy the bridge, you'll never see them again!" Loki yells. He grabs _Gungnir_, runs towards him, ready to pierce Thor through the back.

"Forgive me, Jane." Thor whispers.

Summoning every bit of strength he has left, Thor raises _Mjolnir_ one last time, drawing lightning to it from all sides, and brings it down with a final, terrible blow. The Bifrost shatters, rainbow energy exploding out of it.

Both Loki and Thor are hurled into the air by the force of the blast. A wave of destruction moves forward along the Bridge towards the Observatory, breaking it apart as it goes. The Observatory rips itself apart.

As Loki and Thor fall together, Thor grabs hold of one end of _Gungnir_, while Loki still clutches the other. They both fall towards the massive wave of Bifrost energy which spews out from the broken Bridge. They're an instant from being blasted by the destructive force of the energy, carried away by the current, pulverized by the debris, when –

A powerful hand catches Thor's leg. The God of Thunder dangles there, holding onto _Gungnir_ as Loki hangs on the other end. Loki looks up, shocked to see Odin All-Father standing on the edge of the broken Bridge, awakened from the Odinsleep, restored to his full strength.

"I could've done it, Father." Loki yells out, hoping for some kind of redemption. Odin only stares at Loki, disappointedly. "For you! For all of us…"

"No, Loki…" Odin says.

Loki searches his father's face, looking for some kind of approval, some kind of redemption, but all he sees is disappointment and regret. The God of Mischief lets go.

"No!" Thor cries out.

But it's too late. Odin and Thor can only watch as Loki falls into the rushing torrent of Bifrost energy. It carries him away, along with the debris of the Bridge and the Observatory, disappearing out of sight. Odin pulls Thor up onto the Bridge. Drained, Thor falls back into his father's arms.

"It is over." Odin says.

.

.

.

The Bifrost energy explodes in the sky like fireworks firing in all directions. Rose, Jane, Selvig, Darcy, and Coulson stand watching in amazement. Jane looks back up at the sky, distraught. She knows the significance of what's just happened. Rose only pulls Jane closer, knowing the truth.

"It's gone." Jane mumbles.

"I'm sorry, Janey." Rose apologizes softly, no other words forming on her mouth as she and Jane look up at the now cleared-up sky.

"Someday…" Rose promises.

Though, she's not sure if that promise will be broken…


End file.
